Doctors in Australia have urged snakebite victims not to bring animals to hospital for identification in the future. Especially in the tropical region of Queensland, hospital staff are said to be confronted with some of the most venomous snakes in the world.
Patients wrongly believed that taking the tube with them could help with treatment, according to a report on Australian broadcaster ABC on Monday. In one particularly drastic case, staff at Bundaberg Hospital north of Brisbane were given a clear plastic storage container earlier this month containing an eastern brown snake, one of the most venomous land snakes in the world. The reptile had little security and staff were very scared, the broadcaster quoted Adam Michael, the clinic’s director of emergency medicine. This significantly delayed the patient’s treatment. Furthermore, people exposed themselves to unnecessary risks when they tried to capture the animals.
Doctors are not snake experts
Not only is it dangerous to bring snakes into a hospital, but hospital staff are generally unable to identify snakes, Michael pointed out. Doctors could use clinical symptoms, blood tests, and snake venom detection kits to determine whether antivenom is needed, and if so, which antivenom.
3000 snakebites per year, some of which are fatal
In Australia, where many poisonous snakes live, an average of 3,000 people are bitten by a snake every year. However, according to researchers, only 100 to 200 of them require an antitoxin. Fatal snakebites are rare; most recently, a 47-year-old died in March while trying to remove an eastern brown snake from a kindergarten. The man was bitten several times on his left arm, but did not know if it was a poisonous snake. Instead of calling an ambulance, the man drove home. A short time later cardiac arrest occurred.
Source: Krone
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