Snake bite promotes rattlesnake awareness and avoidance

WORLAND – A Ten Sleep child was recently bitten by a rattlesnake causing community residents to urge others to learn about rattlesnake awareness and avoidance.

“A young girl from Ten Sleep was bitten by a rattlesnake Monday. She was life-flighted to Billings and is in stable condition in the ICU (intensive care unit),” Ten Sleep resident Sam Funk said. The snakes are out and when it’s hot they try to find cool shaded places, so people need to watch themselves and their children. Climbers need to be aware as well, he added.

All snakes, including rattlesnakes are cold blooded, which means that they do not control their body temperature but that their environment does. When the snake’s environment is cool the snakes are sluggish and they need heat to warm them up. That same heat that warms them up can also cause them to overheat so during the heat of the day, snakes seek out cooler shaded places.

Knowing when and where snakes are active is a good way to avoid them. “You can try to avoid them by time of day, early morning and late evening when it’s cooler, snakes are not out as much because they are cold blooded. In the heat of the day they are going to be shaded up because they will overheat,” Ten Sleep veterinarian Chuck Powell said.

If in the event that avoidance doesn’t work and a person is bitten there are a few important things to do. “A person who is bitten needs to relax and move as little as possible, remove tight clothing, shoes and jewelry from the limb that was bit and call 911 immediately because you do need to go to the nearest emergency room,” Banner Washakie Medical Center emergency room manager Janet Clark said. “Lasting damage from the bite can range from no lasting damage to scarring to tissue loss. In extreme cases you can have loss of tissue, that is why it’s so important to get to the hospital as fast as possible, as fast as safely possible,” she added.

Symptoms from the bite can range from minor to life threatening. “Some of the symptoms may include: pain and burning at the site, fang marks, metallic or rubbery taste in the mouth, swelling, chills, nausea, vomiting, tissue damage, even blood thinning, “Clark said.

When bitten there is a list of things not to do according to Clark:

—Do not panic.

—Do not apply ice or submerge bitten area in a bucket of ice.

—Do not use constrictive bands, a tourniquet or constrict the limb with clothing.

—Do not cut on the site of the envenomation.

—Do not suck the poison out.

—Do not use electric shock or stun guns (myth that has surfaced over the years)

—Do not try to capture the snake and bring it to the hospital.

Some area hospitals have the anti-venom on hand and others don’t. “We have enough anti-venom on site for the initial treatment. Some patients require more treatment. If the patient is stable enough, we will have more anti-venom brought here, if the patient is not stable enough we may have to send them to a larger facility,” Clark said.

South Big Horn County Hospital does not have anti-venom on hand. “We do not have anti-venom on hand because we don’t use it often, it has a short shelf life and is very expensive,” Emergency room nurse Jim Thomas said. “We do the preliminary and send the patient usually to Billings,” he added.

Animals are also in danger of having a rattlesnake encounter. “There is actually a vaccine for dogs and horses that helps reduce the symptoms, but it doesn’t totally prevent possible problems,” Powell stated.

Animals usually survive a snake bite with proper veterinary care. “Most of the time they will live through snake bites but usually the worst part is that horses, dogs and cats approach a snake head first and snake bites cause a tremendous amount of swelling. The occasional horse that gets bit usually gets bit on the nose and they can die, not from the poison but from the swelling cutting off their breathing,” Powell said. “We’ve treated quite a few of them (snake bites) and you can successfully treat them, the sooner you bring them in after the bite the better. To treat the swelling we put them on antibiotics which are good against gram negative anaerobic organisms because snakes carry some really bad bugs in their mouths as well as the poison,” he added.

Powell doesn’t usually treat animals with anti-venom. “I usually don’t treat with anti-venom. I use steroids to decrease the swelling, anti-inflammatory steroids, IV fluids to help flush the toxins out and antibiotics to prevent secondary infection,” he said. “We are able to treat most animals successfully without the anti-venom, especially if we see them right away. The anti-venom, at least for pets, I believe and you would have to confirm this with the hospital, but I think it’s like $22,000 a dose, so most pets don’t get that,” he added.

Rattlesnakes should be avoided by humans and animals alike. “If you have a problem with a snake, don’t try to handle the situation yourself, call someone who knows how to handle it. People can call me, I have the snake tongs and am experienced with dealing with them,” Funk stated.

The little girl in Ten Sleep is on her way to recovery. ““She’s doing well and should be coming home today (Wednesday),” Powell said.

Neither Powell or Funk wanted to identify the girl out of respect for the family.