If within 40 minutes of an emergency room: Remove any restrictive clothing, rings, and watches. Have the patient rest. Keep the patient warm. Get the patient to the emergency room as soon as possible.

If farther than 40 minutes from an emergency room, see the injuries document on snake bite for information.

Determine the following information:

• the patient's age, weight, and condition
• identification of the snake if possible
• the time bitten
• the location on the body of the bite

A call is probably not necessary unless summoning an emergency vehicle, as the patient should be seen in an emergency room to determine if the bite contains any poison.

Some snake bites are from nonpoisonous snakes, but 20-30% of the bites from poisonous snakes do not actually inject poison into the wound site and can therefore be treated as a puncture wound.

Some or all of the following procedures may be performed:

• Make an evaluation to determine if poison was injected into the wound site
• Give antivenom if necessary
• Give antitetanus shot if needed
• Treat the symptoms

If treatment is obtained soon enough, only a small percentage of those bitten by a poisonous snake die.

Images

Snake bite on the finger

Snake bite on the finger

Review Date: 02/13/2006
Reviewed By: Eric Perez, M.D., Department of Emergency Medicine, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)