Snakes are out and about - brush up on your snake bite protocol with information sourced from Red Cross Australia and Health Direct, as well as advice from Dr. Christina Zdenek through the ABC.
About Snake Bites:
Australia has about 140 species of land snake, and around 32 species of sea snakes have been recorded in Australian waters.
Around 100 Australian snakes are venomous, although only 12 are likely to inflict a wound that could kill you. These include Taipans, Brown Snakes, Tiger Snakes, Death Adders, Black Snakes, Copperhead Snakes, Rough Scaled Snakes as well as some sea snakes. Don't think just because it was small or young that it isn't dangerous - even a hatchling Eastern Brown snake can kill a grown man with its venom.
How to Avoid Snake Bites:
Contrary to common opinion, snakes are rarely aggressive. They're cowards. Humans are giant adversaries to snakes (think about the size difference!), so they do their best to avoid us.
The best way to avoid a snakebite is to simply give snakes space.
A well-designed study that tracked humans and eastern brown snakes (Pseudonaja textilis) — the most feared snake in Australia — revealed that less than 1% of encounters with snakes resulted in a strike. Most of the time snakes retreated without even being seen, or froze to avoid detection.
While you may think that most snake bites occur out in the bush, research in 2016 showed "the majority of snakebite fatalities [in Australia] occur around a person's residence within a major city or inner regional area".
Keep your distance from any snakes you see. Try wearing shoes to prevent (accidental) bites to the lower limbs, and light the ground (if walking at night) to maximise your chance of spotting/scaring off a snake. Finally, don't ever handle a snake. Even if you think you know what you're looking at, most Australians are actually very poor at identifying snakes correctly. If needed, snake catchers have the expertise and equipment to catch and relocate snakes for you.
Keep your pets in mind too. Snakebite in domestic animals (cats, dogs, horses, and cattle) is around twice as frequent as for humans. Dogs are especially vulnerable - both due to being more aggressive towards snakes and in being particularly susceptible to some snake venoms - so it's a good idea to make sure your four-legged friends stay safe too.
The Different Types of Snake Bites:
Dry Bites:
A dry bite is when the snake strikes but no venom is released. Dry bites will be painful and may cause swelling and redness around the area of the snake bite.
Because you can’t tell if a snake’s bite is a dry bite, always assume that you have been injected with venom and manage the bite as a medical emergency. Once medically assessed, there is usually no need for further treatment. Many snake bites in Australia do not result in envenomation, and so they can be managed without antivenom.
Venomous Bites:
Venomous bites are when the snake bites and releases venom into a wound. Snake venom contains poisons that are designed to stun, numb or kill other animals.
Symptoms of a venomous bite can include:
- severe pain around the bite (this might come on later)
- swelling, bruising or bleeding from the bite
- bite marks on the skin (these might be obvious puncture wounds or almost invisible small scratches)
- swollen and tender glands in the armpit or groin of the limb that has been bitten
- tingling, stinging, burning or abnormal feelings of the skin
- feeling anxious
- nausea (feeling sick) or vomiting (being sick)
- dizziness
- blurred vision
- headache
- breathing difficulties
- problems swallowing
- stomach pain
- irregular heartbeat
- muscle weakness
- confusion
- blood oozing from the site or gums
- collapse
- paralysis, coma or death (in the most severe cases)
In Australia, there are about 2 deaths a year from venomous snake bites.
Snake Identification:
Identification of venomous snakes can be made from venom present on clothing or the skin using a ‘venom detection kit’. For this reason, do not wash or suck the bite or discard clothing.
Do not try to catch or kill the snake to identify it. Medical services do not rely on visual identification of the snake species. You will only put yourself at risk.
Antivenom is available for all venomous Australian snake bites.
First Aid for Snake Bites:
All snake bites must be treated as potentially life-threatening. If someone is bitten by a snake, get help immediately.
- Keep the person at rest, reassured and under observation.
- Dial 000.
- Do not wash venom off the skin or clothes.
- Begin CPR if necessary. 30 chest compressions per 2 breaths.
- If bitten on a limb, apply a firm bandage on the bite site. Ensure the limb is immobilised and the person remains still.
- Work the bandage from the limb foot or hand upwards, working towards the heart and covering as much of the limb as possible. If you can, apply a splint to keep the limb immobile.
- Keep the person still and reassured until medical attention arrives.
Avoid washing the bite area because any venom left on the skin can help identify the snake.
DO NOT apply a tourniquet, cut the wound or attempt to suck the venom out - all of these methods either do not work or will increase the risk of something going permanently wrong.
A pressure immobilisation bandage is recommended for anyone bitten by a venomous snake. This involves firmly bandaging the area of the body involved, such as the arm or leg, and keeping the person calm and still until medical help arrives.
Follow these steps to apply a pressure immobilisation bandage:
- First, put a pressure bandage over the bite itself. It should be tight and you should not be able to easily slide a finger between the bandage and the skin.
- Then use a heavy crepe or elasticised roller bandage to immobilise the whole limb. Start just above the fingers or toes of the bitten limb, and move upwards on the limb as far as the body. Splint the limb including joints on either side of the bite.
- Keep the person and the limb completely at rest. If possible, mark the site of the bite on the bandage with a pen.
Anaphylactic Shock:
Snake bites can be painful. Occasionally some people have a severe allergic reaction to being bitten. In cases of severe allergic reaction, the whole body can react within minutes to the bite, which can lead to anaphylactic shock (anaphylaxis). Anaphylactic shock is very serious and can be fatal.
Symptoms of anaphylactic shock may include:
- difficult or noisy breathing
- difficulty talking and/or hoarse voice
- a swollen tongue
- persistent dizziness or collapse
- swelling or tightness in the throat
- pale and floppy (young children)
- wheeze or persistent cough
- abdominal pain or vomiting
Call triple zero (000) for an ambulance. If the person has a ‘personal action plan’ to manage a known severe allergy, they may need assistance to follow their plan. This may include administering adrenaline via an autoinjector (such as an Epipen®) if one is available.
Why do this for Snake Bites?
It's all well and good to follow first aid to the letter, but it's important to know why you're doing something while you do it.
The key points of snake bite treatment are to keep the victim calm, immobile, and to apply compression (through a compression bandage) to the site of the injury and up towards the heart. All of these aspects are massively important for maximising your chances of survival, and they all revolve around the concepts regarding reducing blood flow.
Snake venom flows through the body into your bloodstream* upon being bitten. The venom travels through your body and (although effects vary depending on snake) can directly attack your nervous system, muscles, and/or other organs - never a good thing! It can thin your blood, cause internal bleeding, prevent your blood from clotting... all kinds of things can happen, which is why there's such a range of symptoms for snake bites.
The use of compression bandages, as well as keeping the victim calm and immobile, can delay systemic toxicity (when your entire body is affected) for 6-10 hours or so, giving you time enough to get to hospital for that wonderful antivenom treatment. Without any of this treatment, however, many snake bites can kill a healthy human within half an hour.
Even people who survive severe snake bites can come away with permanent damage - Dr. Christina Zdenek's husband Chris came away from a three-day coma with permanent kidney damage - but that's a far cry from a funeral.
Nowadays, with a good supply of quality antivenom, no-one should ever die of snakebite in Australia.
*Technically, snake venom will flow through your lymphatic fluid, and doesn't reach the blood until reaching a lymph node. However, as (if left untreated) snake venom will reach a lymph node and then drain into your actual bloodstream, this is mostly an academic difference in our context rather than a functional one. Proper use of compression, and not moving at all, will prevent venom from reaching a lymph node until antivenom can be used.
Snake Bite Equipment:
Fortunately, snake bite kits and combined spider/snake bite kits are easy to find and use, and come with easy to follow Symptoms and Treatment guides. It is highly recommended one of these kits is included in your first-aid kit. They could very easily save somebody's life. Additionally, clothing made to prevent snake bites can be invaluable in high-snake-risk workplaces, and Snake Bite Bandages are available individually if you don't feel the need for an entire kit.
For further information, view the Red Cross Australia and Health Direct pages about Snake Bites, and view FastAid's helpful guide to effective bite treatment here
