Our suggestion is that if there is a snake bite, that you immediately call your local emergency services. Our 084 124 call centre will be able to talk you through exactly what to do with the patient while medical assistance is on the way.

If at all possible, and if the patient is in a rural area (or the reserve is a distance from your nearest hospital) given that the patient is safe to be moved ie has not fallen from a height or has a back or neck injury etc. The patient should be loaded into a vehicle and driven to where they can be met by an ambulance so as to save time of transportation.

Immediate first aid can be done on the patient where the bite site can be washed with clean water and soap so as to wash any venom away that may be on the skin surface. Keep the affected area as still as possible as movement will aid in the blood flow and venom flow along with it. You may also bandage the area above the bite site given that the bite is on a limb, but ensure that the bandage is over a wide area and is not tighter than you would bandage a sore ankle etc.

This bandages purpose is NOT to occlude blood flow to the area, but simply to aid in suppressing possible swelling. The bite site can be covered with a clean dressing over which an ice pack can be placed in 5 minutes on 5 minutes off rotation to help with swelling and pain.

It is so important to keep the patient as calm as possible!

Remember, appropriate medical treatment is essential, so don’t delay in getting the patient to hospital.

[Info from ER24.co.za]

Green Mamba

An elderly woman, thought to be a Siberian National, bitten twice by a Green Mamba while crossing Umdloti Link Road is fighting for her life in the Netcare St Umhlanga Hospital.

It is alleged that the woman had been crossing the road near a local shopping centre when a car passing by ran over the snake which had also been on the roadway. The reptile thereafter bit the woman twice on her lower leg.

Netcare911 Paramedics arrived to the find the woman at the roadside in a critical condition after the snake’s venom which is predominantly neurotoxic, had taken effect.

She was intubated and placed on a manual ventilator by Netcare911 Advanced Life Support Paramedic Naven Pullian and his team. She was stabilised there before being airlifted by the Netcare 3 Aeromedical Helicopter to hospital for essential and definitive medical intervention.

Metro police at the scene killed the injured animal and identified it.

Jeffrey Wicks
Netcare 911

African Puff adder

A 27 year old man is in a serious condition after been bitten by a Puff Adder on the Spitkop farm between Kimberly and Petrusburg this morning. It is believed that the man was spraying poison in a field when the Puff Adder struck him on the right leg.

Farmers raced the patient to a clinic in Petrusburg for treatment. Netcare 911 was dispatched to the clinic and worked fervently to stabilise the seriously injured man. Paramedics then transferred the patient to the Netcare Pelonomi Hospital in Bloemfontein for specialised treatment.

Identification of the snake

A) Average length 90 cm
B) Max. length 1,4 meters
C) A short stubby snake with a triangular head distinct from the rest of the body
D) Yellow with distinct backward – pointing chevrons on the back
E) May hiss or puff when disturbed
F) Usually found on the ground and in pathways
G) Very active after sunset

Adder venom is predominantly cytotoxic, meaning that it is responsible for destruction of blood vessels and tissue. Symptoms are localised and often extremely painful, followed by severe swelling as a result of the internal bleeding, and in some case are accompanied with blistering and death of the tissue.

Chris Botha

Netcare 911