Bitten? Call 911.
Get prompt medical care. Call 911 immediately!
911Call the Poison Control Center National Hotline:
1-800-222-1222DO’s
- DO join NSS National Snakebite Support.National Snakebite Support on Facebook
- DO call 911 and poison control immediately.
- DO stay calm.The faster your heart beats, the faster venom works through your body.
- DO remove all jewelry and tight-fitting clothing.You will start swelling, and you could even lose a finger unless you get off the jewelry.
- DO stay as still as possible and elevate the extremity.
- DO mark the bite with a marker, or by taking pictures every 15 minutes.This will give medical staff an idea about the rate of spread.
- DO advocate for yourself at the hospital.These people don’t see many snake bites, so they may not have the knowledge for complete appropriate care. Make them call snakebite support, and snake bite experts.
DON’T!
- DON’T use a tourniquet.This will cause the venom to pool in the extremity, increasing the damage to the area, and when the tourniquet is removed, it will cause a venom surge to the rest of your body.
- DON’T eat or drink.
- DON’T make any incisions.It will not help, makes you more susceptible to infection and will leave a scar.
- DON’T orally or with a device, suction the wound.Again, it will not help, and mouths are dirty, so it could cause an infection. NO SNAKEBITE KITS!
- DON’T take any medication before medics arrive.
- DON’T allow hospital to perform a fasciotomy before consulting with a snake bite expert.It will be more painful, doesn’t help, and will cause severe scarring.
Do I need to know what snake it was?
It is NOT necessary to provide the hospital with what kind of snake the bite came from. There are only two types of antivenin that hospitals provide (CroFab and Anavip). For most snake bites CroFab is more effective. That is carried by Mayo, Flagler, NAS Jax, and UF Health.
While coral snake venom can cause more systemic problems, coral snake bites don’t present in the same way as any other venomous snake in Florida would. A pit viper bite will hurt and swell immediately, while a coral bite may not, so you’ll know the difference.
The good news
The chances of being bitten by a venomous snake are VERY, VERY low. Fatalities are extremely rare, less than 10 deaths in the US each year. Handling, harassing, or trying to kill a venomous snake is a BAD IDEA.
