This is to inform You about the hazards of snake bites. it is important to remember that snakes can be found all over the place. Besides the more usual sites to find snakes, a rare and not much publicized fact is that they may also find their way into your living quarters through toilet bowls and drainage pipes.
In order to avoid the fatal consequences of a snake bite all Of You are advised to pay attention to the following advisory:
How can I avoid snakebites?
Most snake bites occur during the rainy season although snakes are most active during summer. You can avoid snake bites by taking the following steps:
• Avoid bushy areas, forests, farm lands, swampy areas, rocky areas, fallen logs, deep holes in the ground & refuse dumping sites – places where snakes may live
• Avoid climbing forest trees
• When moving through tall grass or weeds, poke at the ground in front of you with a long stick to scare away snakes.
• Watch where you step and where you sit when outdoors.
• Clear bushes around your house
• Avoid keeping animal pets (poultry) in your house
• Destroy animal pests in your house such as mice, rats, lizards, frogs, etc
• Store your foodstuff properly (i.e. eggs). Snakes love eggs!
• Wear protective clothing: thick leather / gum boots and long pants/ jeans when going to the farm or bush
• Shine a flashlight on your path when walking outside at night.
• While inside the house be careful in opening closets, kitchen cabinets, and reaching out to nooks and corners for dusting cleaning Also inspect shoes before wearing.
• Switch on the lights before entering bathrooms at night
• Look into the toilet bowl before using.
• Sleep under a mosquito net well tacked around the bed
• Use snake repellent products to spray the environs of your house
• Spray gravel around your house
• Avoid swimming in unsafe rivers and ponds
• Avoid flooded areas
• Avoid planting in your house environs flowers and plants that attract snakes by their scents
• Avoid playing around with snakes, etc
• Never handle a snake, even if you think it is dead. Recently killed snakes may still bite by reflex.
What should I do if a snake bites me?
• Stay calm.
• If you see the snake, try to remember what it looks like. Do NOT approach the snake; don't try to catch it or to kill it. It’s looks may suggest whether it is poisonous or not-see below
• Take off any jewelry or tight clothing near the bite quickly, before swelling starts.
• Lift a bitten arm or leg so it is level with your heart.
• If you think the bite was from a poisonous snake, get to a hospital as soon as you can.
• Do NOT bleed the wound.
• Do NOT try to suck the venom out of the wound.
• Do NOT put ice on the bite
• DO NOT tie a tight tourniquet
LOCAL SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS in the bitten part
The earliest manifestations of snake bites:
- Features are noted within 6-8 minutes but may have onset up to 30 minutes.
- fang marks
- local pain
- local bleeding
- bruising (reddish purple pinpoint rash, hematoma, etc)
- painful red streaks below the skin surface
- local lymph node enlargement
- inflammation (swelling, redness, heat)
- blistering
- local infection, abscess formation
- gangrene / destruction of skin and muscles
- tingling and numbness over the tongue, mouth and scalp and around the wound
GENERALIZED (SYSTEMIC) SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS – onset as early as 5 minutes or as late as 10 hours after the snake bite.
General: Fright (may be present in non-venomous and venomous snake bites), nausea, vomiting, malaise, abdominal pain, weakness, drowsiness, prostration
Cardiovascular: Visual disturbances, dizziness, faintness, collapse, shock, low blood pressure, abnormalities in heart rhythm, pulmonary edema, conjunctival edema
Bleeding and clotting disorders: bleeding from recent wounds (including fang marks, venipunctures etc) and from old partly-healed wounds
- spontaneous systemic bleeding - from gums, nose, bleeding into the tears, coughing out blood, vomiting of blood, rectal bleeding, blood in the urine, vaginal bleeding, bleeding into the skin, intracranial hemorrhage (exhibiting signs similar to a stroke)
Neurological: Drowsiness, numbness / tingling sensation, abnormalities of taste and smell, "heavy" eyelids, inability to move eyeballs, paralysis of facial muscles and other muscles innervated by the cranial nerves, loss of voice, difficulty in swallowing secretions, respiratory paralysis(difficulty breathing), and generalized paralysis, stroke-like symptoms
Skeletal muscle breakdown: Generalized pain, stiffness and tenderness of muscles, inability to open the mouth completely, reddish urine, and cardiac arrest(heart attack).
Renal: lower back pain, bloody/ reddish urine, decreased urine output, symptoms and other signs of renal failure (fast breathing, hiccups, nausea, chest pain).
Endocrine: shock, decreased blood glucose
RECOMMENDED FIRST AID CARE
- Reassure the victim who may be very anxious
- Immobilize the bitten limb with a splint or sling (any movement or muscular contraction increases absorption of venom into the bloodstream and lymph vessels)
- Consider pressure-immobilization for some elapid (cobra, krait) bites
- Avoid any interference with the bite wound as this may introduce infection, increase absorption of the venom and increase local bleeding
- Administer oxygen therapy (as needed)
- Move the patient to the nearest point with ability to care for a snake-bite victim ASAP!
- Administer multi-sera anti-venom ASAP, if features are suggestive of bite by poisonous snake-but this should ONLY be done in clinic/hospital as anti-venom also has potentially fatal side effects!
Pressure immobilization method
Ideally, an elasticized, stretchy, crepe bandage, approximately 10 cm wide and at least 4.5 metres long should be used. If that is not available, any long strips of material can be used. The bandage is bound firmly around the entire bitten limb, starting distally around the fingers or toes and moving proximally, to include a rigid splint. The bandage is bound as tightly as for a sprained ankle, but not so tightly that the peripheral pulse (radial, posterior tibial, and dorsalis pedis) is occluded or that a finger cannot easily be slipped between its layers.
Note: Pressure immobilisation is recommended for bites by elapid snakes, including cobras, kraits, sea snakes but SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR VIPER BITES because of the danger of increasing the local effects of the necrotic venom.
Ideally, these compression bandages should not be released until the patient is under medical care in hospital, resuscitation facilities are available.
TRANSPORT TO HOSPITAL
The patient must be transported to a place where they can receive medical care (dispensary or hospital) as quickly, but as safely and comfortably as possible. Any movement, but especially movement of the bitten limb, must be reduced to an absolute minimum to avoid increasing the systemic absorption of venom. Any muscular contraction will increase this spread of venom from the site of the bite. A stretcher, bicycle, cart, horse, motor vehicle, train or boat should be used, or the patient should be carried.
In order to avoid the fatal consequences of a snake bite all Of You are advised to pay attention to the following advisory:
How can I avoid snakebites?
Most snake bites occur during the rainy season although snakes are most active during summer. You can avoid snake bites by taking the following steps:
• Avoid bushy areas, forests, farm lands, swampy areas, rocky areas, fallen logs, deep holes in the ground & refuse dumping sites – places where snakes may live
• Avoid climbing forest trees
• When moving through tall grass or weeds, poke at the ground in front of you with a long stick to scare away snakes.
• Watch where you step and where you sit when outdoors.
• Clear bushes around your house
• Avoid keeping animal pets (poultry) in your house
• Destroy animal pests in your house such as mice, rats, lizards, frogs, etc
• Store your foodstuff properly (i.e. eggs). Snakes love eggs!
• Wear protective clothing: thick leather / gum boots and long pants/ jeans when going to the farm or bush
• Shine a flashlight on your path when walking outside at night.
• While inside the house be careful in opening closets, kitchen cabinets, and reaching out to nooks and corners for dusting cleaning Also inspect shoes before wearing.
• Switch on the lights before entering bathrooms at night
• Look into the toilet bowl before using.
• Sleep under a mosquito net well tacked around the bed
• Use snake repellent products to spray the environs of your house
• Spray gravel around your house
• Avoid swimming in unsafe rivers and ponds
• Avoid flooded areas
• Avoid planting in your house environs flowers and plants that attract snakes by their scents
• Avoid playing around with snakes, etc
• Never handle a snake, even if you think it is dead. Recently killed snakes may still bite by reflex.
What should I do if a snake bites me?
• Stay calm.
• If you see the snake, try to remember what it looks like. Do NOT approach the snake; don't try to catch it or to kill it. It’s looks may suggest whether it is poisonous or not-see below
• Take off any jewelry or tight clothing near the bite quickly, before swelling starts.
• Lift a bitten arm or leg so it is level with your heart.
• If you think the bite was from a poisonous snake, get to a hospital as soon as you can.
• Do NOT bleed the wound.
• Do NOT try to suck the venom out of the wound.
• Do NOT put ice on the bite
• DO NOT tie a tight tourniquet
LOCAL SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS in the bitten part
The earliest manifestations of snake bites:
- Features are noted within 6-8 minutes but may have onset up to 30 minutes.
- fang marks
- local pain
- local bleeding
- bruising (reddish purple pinpoint rash, hematoma, etc)
- painful red streaks below the skin surface
- local lymph node enlargement
- inflammation (swelling, redness, heat)
- blistering
- local infection, abscess formation
- gangrene / destruction of skin and muscles
- tingling and numbness over the tongue, mouth and scalp and around the wound
GENERALIZED (SYSTEMIC) SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS – onset as early as 5 minutes or as late as 10 hours after the snake bite.
General: Fright (may be present in non-venomous and venomous snake bites), nausea, vomiting, malaise, abdominal pain, weakness, drowsiness, prostration
Cardiovascular: Visual disturbances, dizziness, faintness, collapse, shock, low blood pressure, abnormalities in heart rhythm, pulmonary edema, conjunctival edema
Bleeding and clotting disorders: bleeding from recent wounds (including fang marks, venipunctures etc) and from old partly-healed wounds
- spontaneous systemic bleeding - from gums, nose, bleeding into the tears, coughing out blood, vomiting of blood, rectal bleeding, blood in the urine, vaginal bleeding, bleeding into the skin, intracranial hemorrhage (exhibiting signs similar to a stroke)
Neurological: Drowsiness, numbness / tingling sensation, abnormalities of taste and smell, "heavy" eyelids, inability to move eyeballs, paralysis of facial muscles and other muscles innervated by the cranial nerves, loss of voice, difficulty in swallowing secretions, respiratory paralysis(difficulty breathing), and generalized paralysis, stroke-like symptoms
Skeletal muscle breakdown: Generalized pain, stiffness and tenderness of muscles, inability to open the mouth completely, reddish urine, and cardiac arrest(heart attack).
Renal: lower back pain, bloody/ reddish urine, decreased urine output, symptoms and other signs of renal failure (fast breathing, hiccups, nausea, chest pain).
Endocrine: shock, decreased blood glucose
RECOMMENDED FIRST AID CARE
- Reassure the victim who may be very anxious
- Immobilize the bitten limb with a splint or sling (any movement or muscular contraction increases absorption of venom into the bloodstream and lymph vessels)
- Consider pressure-immobilization for some elapid (cobra, krait) bites
- Avoid any interference with the bite wound as this may introduce infection, increase absorption of the venom and increase local bleeding
- Administer oxygen therapy (as needed)
- Move the patient to the nearest point with ability to care for a snake-bite victim ASAP!
- Administer multi-sera anti-venom ASAP, if features are suggestive of bite by poisonous snake-but this should ONLY be done in clinic/hospital as anti-venom also has potentially fatal side effects!
Pressure immobilization method
Ideally, an elasticized, stretchy, crepe bandage, approximately 10 cm wide and at least 4.5 metres long should be used. If that is not available, any long strips of material can be used. The bandage is bound firmly around the entire bitten limb, starting distally around the fingers or toes and moving proximally, to include a rigid splint. The bandage is bound as tightly as for a sprained ankle, but not so tightly that the peripheral pulse (radial, posterior tibial, and dorsalis pedis) is occluded or that a finger cannot easily be slipped between its layers.
Note: Pressure immobilisation is recommended for bites by elapid snakes, including cobras, kraits, sea snakes but SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR VIPER BITES because of the danger of increasing the local effects of the necrotic venom.
Ideally, these compression bandages should not be released until the patient is under medical care in hospital, resuscitation facilities are available.
TRANSPORT TO HOSPITAL
The patient must be transported to a place where they can receive medical care (dispensary or hospital) as quickly, but as safely and comfortably as possible. Any movement, but especially movement of the bitten limb, must be reduced to an absolute minimum to avoid increasing the systemic absorption of venom. Any muscular contraction will increase this spread of venom from the site of the bite. A stretcher, bicycle, cart, horse, motor vehicle, train or boat should be used, or the patient should be carried.