We know that people buy the kits, and we know that people get bitten by snakes. But what we don't know is if the kits really do anything to help the snake bite. Keep reading to uncover the truth. It may not be what you originally had thought!
Snake-bite kits, which cost $4 to $15 and are sold in sporting-goods and camping stores, are intended to be used before antivenom can be administered. Kit contents vary, but often include a scalpel, a suction device and a constriction band to be tied around the limb to slow spread of the venom.
Doctors say the kits are, for the most part, based on outmoded ideas. The best thing to do is call 911 or get the patient to a hospital as soon as possible, says Lori Weichenthal, a wilderness-medicine expert at the University of California-San Francisco in Fresno. If possible, Dr. Weichenthal adds, immobilize the bitten limb and keep it below the level of the heart — but more important, get to help fast.
Never use the scalpel in the snake kits, Dr. Weichenthal and others say, as it could damage the skin further.
The suction devices are still under debate. One of the most popular devices, the Sawyer Extractor, sold by Sawyer Products Inc. of Safety Harbor, Fla., consists of a syringe-shaped chamber with a plunger that creates a vacuum. The company suggests leaving it on 10 to 15 minutes to extract the venom.
Some doctors fear the deep suction could even worsen outcomes by killing skin at the wound site. The human study, published in 2004 by researchers at the University of California in Fresno, found that the device removed no more than 1% to 2% of mock venom from the leg.
Crazy! Did we ever consider that they might do more harm than good? For more information on snake bite kits and what the kit companies have to say on the matter, visit The Wall Street Journal.
Have you ever had an experience with a snake bite kit? What are your thoughts? It turns out the best you can do is clean it with water, bandage it, and be on your way (at least until you can get help).
Featured Image via TIM FOLEY/ The Wall Street Journal
The Sawyer Extractor works well on mosquito bites
They’re about as helpfull after a bite as freaking out and running around in circles.
Activated charcoal paste and get to a hospital.
No
I have one but don’t think I will get a chance to use it. The reaction of my animals that have been bitten has been so quick I don’t see it being useful. I do make a small cut in the middle of the bite if I get a chance. The bite tends to bust open in the middle anyway and the ones I cut tend to heal better, quicker. Don’t think I would do that to a person other than myself. I do believe I would use it in a wilderness environment in combination with a compression bandage. Swelling is immediate from my experience. We have a lot of big copperheads. My German Shepherd and I have been lucky, though we have stepped on a few.
Let me say this about that….Don’t Git Bit…