# SHTF snake bite treatment



## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

Hi, long term SHTF happens and your life is turned upside down. The grid is down and people have gone back to the pioneer way of life. This will naturally involve a lot more time spent outdoors. The population of vermin will skyrocket and part of the chain reaction will be an increase of venomous snake encounters. What do you do if you are bitten by a snake?

Here is what the CDC has to recommend: 

1. If you or someone you know has been bitten, try to remember the color and shape of the snake, which can help with the treating the snakebite.

2. Keep the victim still and calm. This can slow down the spread of venom if the snake is poisonous. 

3. SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION ASAP. Dial 911 or call ems.

4. Apply first aid if you cannot get the person to the hospital right away. Lay or sit the person down with the bite below the level of the heart. Cover the bite with a clean dry dressing. 

THE PROBLEM WITH THIS IS THAT THERE WON'T BE ANY HOSPITAL OR EMS TO RELY UPON!

Snakebite kits have been proven to be only marginally effective. The sawyer extractor is ok but it has to be used very quickly. Forget the slash and suck method. Leave that to Hollywood. 

Here is what is recommended by some of the prepper doc community:

Keep the victim calm. Stress increases blood flow thereby speeding the venom into the bloodstream. 

Keep the limb still with a brace.

Remove rings, watches and bracelets. Swelling will occur. 

Position extremity below heart level.

Wrap with compression bandages. Bandaging begins 2 to 4 inches above the bite. Winding around and moving up, then back down over the bite. 

Do not use tourniquet or electricity to treat the bite.

PRAY FOR THE BEST.



There are antivenin powders available buy they are very hard to get. An example is CroFab. Training is required to use these effectively. 

What do yall think about this very real problem? What do the forum members with medical training say?


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

Awesome knowledge and topic. That being said I am sure 100's survived bites when out on their own. Mountain Men and Trappers etc...


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

Prayer seems like the most generally available and effective treatment. Fortunately, there are a limited number of pit viper species. Those are the ones with the widest habitat/climate spread. Thry include the cotton mouth, the rattlers, copper-heads, etc. They inject a very destructive neurotoxin, but it is possible to survive a bite. Knowing what to do and being able to do it is another thing. There are lots of variables, too. You would be lucky to kill the snake after it bites. You need to know how big it is and apparent age. Those things influence how much poison may have gone in and how potent it was.

So, once you go through the checklist, about all you can do is pray. It would be nice if you had medical support (nurse and O2 and a defibrilator), but you can't count on it.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

thepeartree said:


> So, once you go through the checklist, about all you can do is pray. It would be nice if you had medical support (nurse and O2 and a defibrilator), but you can't count on it.


Veterinarians are valuable folks to know.


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

Arklatex said:


> Veterinarians are valuable folks to know.


Umm, I would accept their help, but as long as I'm wishing, I'll wish for human-focused help.


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## MrsInor (Apr 15, 2013)

Arklatex said:


> Veterinarians are valuable folks to know.


Just hope you don't have worms.


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

You don't have worms, you don't have bait


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## Dinah (Sep 22, 2014)

Do I get a bottle of whiskey at least John Wayne?
Ok .. seriously ..you do not try to suction out the venom?
and I do not mean by sucking it into your mouth...yuk


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Back in boy scouts they taught us to make a cross ways cut and suck out the poison by mouth. This was rumored to work ok unless a person had chapped lips or tooth decay..and as long a person did not get bit directly on the male appendage. In that case as Peedrow tole Boodrrow after talking to the Doc on the telephone...."He said you just need to lay on down and die."


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

I'll just continue to live in area with no poisonous snakes.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

Chipper said:


> I'll just continue to live in area with no poisonous snakes.


Must be nice... In the south we have rattlers, moccasins, copperheads and. coral snakes. And that's just the snakes. We also have black widows and brown recluse spiders. Not to mention the scorpions.


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## oldgrouch (Jul 11, 2014)

Chipper said:


> I'll just continue to live in area with no poisonous snakes.


Last summer I killed two copperheads in the front yard at the edge of the woods and a rattlesnake at the end of the driveway. The grandkids know to stay out of the woods in the summer. Didn't see any this year ----- doesn't mean they aren't there. I'm thinking about getting guineas --- they sometimes kill snakes and will let you know if they are around.


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

AND the darn constrictors..,


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## hawgrider (Oct 24, 2014)

Arklatex said:


> Hi, long term SHTF happens and your life is turned upside down. The grid is down and people have gone back to the pioneer way of life. This will naturally involve a lot more time spent outdoors. The population of vermin will skyrocket and part of the chain reaction will be an increase of venomous snake encounters. What do you do if you are bitten by a snake?
> 
> Here is what the CDC has to recommend:
> 
> ...


Positive identification of the snake would be most helpful to treatment. Unfortunately if your to far away from anti venom for some snake bites your probably not going to make it.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

The crazy thing about it is that venomous snake bites are less prone to infection than a dog bite or a cat scratch.


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## Deebo (Oct 27, 2012)

Arklatex, I think it has to do with being meat eaters. Snakes are meat eaters,but they bite and swallow. 
Dogs, cats, and HUMANS, have meat particles stuck in their teeth. 
I don't wanna get bit by ANYTHING.


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

Deebo said:


> Arklatex, I think it has to do with being meat eaters. Snakes are meat eaters,but they bite and swallow.
> Dogs, cats, and HUMANS, have meat particles stuck in their teeth.
> I don't wanna get bit by ANYTHING.


Uhh, should we discuss that with your significant other?


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Copperheads are abundant on our place. They are not aggressive (thankfully) even though we have seen probably 10 or so in the past few months. The last two I killed were sunning on our road; one met a bullet and one met a Michelin. Either way is good. My plan if bitten is heavy doses of Benadryl or antihistamine, ice and stabilization. If no SHTF, I'd get my fat ass to the fire station a couple of miles away and pray.

In a SHTF situation and no help, I would also take doses of fish antibiotics and try to suction the venom...but have no anti-venin.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

Bump. Anybody have more to add?


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## Suntzu (Sep 22, 2014)

I always keep a snake bite kit in the house. Don't know if it would have any real effect, but I always figured it was better than nothing. My plan was always to use it on myself or family while waiting for EMS, or In route to hospital via personal conveyance.


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## CWOLDOJAX (Sep 5, 2013)

I have, along with 1000's of other sailors and service members sat very attentively to Maynard Cox.

"POISONUS BITE SPECIALIST"

He is quoted often around Florida even after he passed away in 2011 (I think).
"But deaths from snakebites are extremely rare, said Cox, who himself has been bitten 139 times by poisonous snakes. In fact, 40 percent of the bites from poisonous snakes are dry bites, or strikes in which no venom is passed, according to Cox.

"They all control the amount of venom they want to give, and it depends on the mental state of the snake," he said. "If you get him cornered, and he's upset, he'll give you a full measure of pure pleasure.

"If you're bitten and only have a bee sting-like pain, that's a dry bite. But if after 20-30 minutes you have a fiery, cigarette-burn type pain, then you've got some venom.""

Go to 4:10 on the video to avoid some of the corny journalism.





NavHospital JAX and Mayo Clinic here paid attention to him too.


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## Daddy O (Jan 20, 2014)

did someone say there were powdered antivenoms? Really antivenom is the way to go but it requires refrigerated storage, and has a crappy shelf life, and is verry expensive. Poiwdered treatments would have a better shelf life for something you will probably never need.


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## Daddy O (Jan 20, 2014)

otherwise the only other option is the Red Foxx treatment.
Put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

Daddy O said:


> did someone say there were powdered antivenoms?


CroFab.

http://m.cvs.com/mt/www.cvs.com/dru...for-injection/1g?un_jtt_v_dr_tab=detailSpInfo


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