Call triple zero (000) and ask for an ambulance. Apply a pressure immobilisation bandage (see below). Don't wash the bite area — venom left on the skin can help identify the snake.
Keep the bitten person still and calm. This can slow down the spread of venom if the snake is venomous. Seek medical attention as soon as possible. Dial 911 or call local Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
1. Call an ambulance immediately. You should treat any snake bite as an emergency, regardless of whether you think the snake was venomous or not. Many snakes look similar, and if you wait to see if you feel symptoms of venom poisoning, it might be too late by the time you get help.
You'll begin to see symptoms immediately, but your symptoms will worsen over time. Ideally, you'll reach medical help within 30 minutes of being bitten. If the bite is left untreated, your bodily functions will break down over a period of 2 or 3 days and the bite may result in severe organ damage or death.
If bitten by a pit viper (rattlesnake, copperhead, cottonmouth): Call 911 or your local emergency number immediately. Cleanse the wound, but do not try to cut around the fang marks and suck out the venom. People who do this often do more damage than good.
While most copperhead bites are not life-threatening, they can be very painful, and they require immediate medical attention.
Can You Survive a Bite from a Copperhead Snake Without Treatment? Copperheads are venomous, but their venom is relatively mild compared to other venomous snakes. Bites are not usually life-threatening, but if bitten you should always seek medical attention.
Wound aspirate, serum, and urine are the most suitable materials for venom detection. ELISA has been used for clinical diagnosis of snakebite, to monitor antivenom dose, to study clinical syndromes associated with envenomation, to detect venom in forensic cases, and to evaluate first aid techniques.
Blood that fails to clot after 20-minutes is considered positive and indicative of coagulopathy and thus systemic envenoming, whilst blood that has clotted is considered negative and not indicative of coagulopathy.
You may not always know you were bitten by a snake, especially if you were bitten in water or tall grass. Signs and symptoms of a snakebite may include the following: Two puncture marks at the wound. Redness or swelling around the wound.
Even a bite from a "harmless" snake can cause infection or allergic reaction in some people. For your safety, treat all snakebites as if they were venomous and get to a hospital emergency room as quickly as possible. This is especially true if you aren't sure of the exact type of snake that bit you.
Ideally, you'll reach medical help within 30 minutes of being bitten. If the bite is left untreated, your bodily functions will break down over a period of 2 or 3 days and the bite may result in severe organ damage or death.
Have the person lie down with wound below the heart. Keep the person calm and at rest, remaining as still as possible to keep venom from spreading. Cover the wound with loose, sterile bandage. Remove any jewelry from the area that was bitten.
The whole blood clotting test is a blood test used to check the coagulation mechanism in the blood following a snake bite. If the test is positive after a bite in South East Asia it indicates the snake was a viper rather than an elapid. It can also be used to assess the effectiveness of antivenin therapy.
As many as 30.8% of snake bite victims suffer wound infections (6). While serious systemic illnesses occur infrequently as a result of these infections, they can lead to sepsis and death (7,8). Various organisms have been reported to cause infections after snake bites.
A venomous snake bite will usually leave two clear puncture marks. In contrast, a nonvenomous bite tends to leave two rows of teeth marks. It can be difficult to tell the difference between puncture wounds from venomous and nonvenomous snakes. People should seek medical attention for all snake bites.
General symptoms include; headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, collapse, convulsions. Beware anxiety as a cause of general symptoms. Local symptoms vary from minimal to obvious bite marks, local pain, swelling, or bruising.
Clinical effects after Crotalinae envenomation are generally more severe in patients with rattlesnake envenomation than from copperhead and cottonmouth species. However, fatalities are rare for any snakebite in the United States [5].
Cottonmouth and copperhead bites are painful right when they occur. Symptoms, which usually begin right away, may include: Bleeding. Breathing difficulty.