Snake bite cases spike on Downs
A SPIKE in the number of snake bite cases presenting to Toowoomba Hospital and being flown by the RACQ CareFlight helicopter has prompted a warning about the dangers of the reptile.
Toowoomba Hospital emergency department acting director Dr Jacob Crosdale said three snakebite patients had been brought in since the start of the year, on top of nine patients in December last year.
It comes after RACQ CareFlight reported having flown six people with snake bites in the past month.
Their usual number is about five people a year.
Recent cases include a young girl who was flown from Tara to Toowoomba Hospital on Thursday with a suspected snake bite and a Taroom woman who was flown to Toowoomba on Monday after being bitten.
Dr Crosdale said only one of the most recent 12 patients had been envenomated and it was only to a minor degree.
“As far as I know, none of the patients we have seen here have been significantly envenomated,” Dr Crosdale said.
He said that was not unusual because 90–95% of victims suffered “dry bites”.
Despite this, he said every snake bike case was treated with the utmost seriousness.
Blood tests and checking for neurological and physical symptoms were the main procedures once a snake bite victim was taken into hospital.
“What the person says the snake looks like is not the most useful information,” Dr Crosdale said.
Similarities in the appearance of a variety of snakes common to the Darling Downs meant it was easy for species to be confused.
He said venom detection kits could identify to which family of snakes the biter belonged.
His advice to victims was not to run around trying to catch the snake because, in his experience, that was how people were bitten for a second time.
Dr Crosdale also advised people to take even minor snake bites seriously by remaining calm, bandaging a splint to the wound, minimising movement and seeking medical attention.