Contact your local Red Cross to learn CPR. Trust me its worth it.
First Aid for Snake bites
The following First Aid tips have been collected from the Internet along with some personal suggestions.
Rattlesnakes
The Gold Country is populated with Western Diamondback
Rattlesnakes. They can be anywhere at any time. Don't play with it. Don't
try to catch it. They don't make good pets at all. Please be aware at all
times where you walk, what you step over, climb on or while moving rocks.
Don't rely on getting a warning of their presence with their rattling.
Sometimes they don't.
You leave them alone. Go around, give them space. In some cases that's not possible. Evasive action must be taken. While its hard to call in an air strike when there is no phone service, grenades are to heavy to carry around and a RPG?, well it's too hard to find ammo for it.
Use your own discretion in how to move it out of your way. Keep in mind their striking distance and also be aware that they are known to travel in pairs. One more note before I cover snake bite first aid. If by chance, by accident of course, your knife just happens to fall out of your backpack and severs the snakes head off, bury the head. The reason is that, bees are attracted to the sweet taste of the venom. If a bee stings you, you could get a small dose of venom. If you are hungry and living off the land, just saute in butter and garlic then BBQ over a camp fire. They are quite tasty. It's just real weird eating it.
The first thing is to remain calm. If you can identify the snake do so. It is better if you can safely take it with you to the hospital to be sure of getting the right anti-venom. However do not risk more bites to do so. Remember the first rule of rescue: Do not create any more victims or risk further injuring the current victim. Treat for microbial infection. Bacteria which cause tetanus and gas gangrene have been isolated from the mouths of poisonous snakes. Cleanse the wound and if possible disinfect with Betadyne or other effective antiseptic. Cleansing and disinfecting the wound is the single most effective treatment you can give in the field. The victim should also be sure his tetanus vaccine is up to date. Definitive treatment requires a physician who will administer anti- venom as well as other treatment. Most anti-venom is made with horse serum so try to find out if the patient has any allergies to it and if so, be sure the doctor is informed of that fact. Keep the patient as quiet as possible and evacuate quickly to medical facilities.
To re-iterate: Do not cut off circulation. A more recent development for immobilizing the venom is to wrap the area snugly with fabric and immobilize the limb with a splint. Any type of fabric, including elastic bandages, works well. Just be sure it is not tight enough to cut off blood circulation and watch for swelling which might make it too tight. The bitten limb should be immobilized, especially if bitten by an elapid such as a coral snake. Treat it like a fracture. You will not be able to remove very much of the venom, almost none in an elapid bite where the chewing will have dispersed it. However, you should try if all of the following criteria are met:
To re-iterate: Do not cut off circulation. A more recent development for immobilizing the venom is to wrap the area snugly with fabric and immobilize the limb with a splint. Any type of fabric, including elastic bandages, works well. Just be sure it is not tight enough to cut off blood circulation and watch for swelling which might make it too tight. The bitten limb should be immobilized, especially if bitten by an elapid such as a coral snake. Treat it like a fracture. You will not be able to remove very much of the venom, almost none in an elapid bite where the chewing will have dispersed it. However, you should try if all of the following criteria are met:
1. You can start venom removal within 10 minutes (thereafter it tends to be so dispersed that you will not likely be very effective)
2. You have appropriate suction devices to remove it. This means a syringe style suction device, the rubber suction cups often sold in "snake-bite kits" do not develop enough suction to do the job. It is not necessary to cut the wound to suck out venom, it went in through the fang marks and can come out the same way. You should not try to suck it out with your mouth. That is not likely to be effective, risks venom getting into your bloodstream via an open sore, and most importantly is likely to further contaminate the wound. If you lack an appropriate suction device, forget it. If you do try to remove the venom, place the suction device over the fang marks. They may not always be obvious if the snake has bitten hard enough to leave marks from other teeth also. Be aware that you are not going to get out much of the venom. Removal of 5 to 15% would be about all you can expect. The sooner after the bite you start the more effective you will be, the venom disperses quickly.
3. Do not cut into the flesh around the fang marks. While this can, in rare cases, facilitate removal of venom it is also very dangerous. Unless you really know what you are doing you may do more damage than the snake did. Muscles, nerves, and blood vessels may all be in the area and you can damage them, sometimes permanently.
4. Cold Therapy is mentioned only to *strongly* advise against its use. It is *not* effective and, particularly in the case of a pit viper bite, will impede recovery. Cold will restrict circulation already compromised by the damage to blood vessels. Furthermore, the body's principle detoxifying mechanism appears to be the action of antibodies against the venom. Lowering of the temperature retards access of antibodies to the toxins. Cold therapy apparently was proposed on the assumption that the venom is an emzyme. In fact most are peptides which cooling does not inactivate.
5. The most effective thing you can do is to be prepared. Carry a cell phone or other means of emergency communication when hiking or camping, and know how to reach rescue personnel. Carry a snake bite kit when you will be in proximity of venoms snakes, including horseback or motor vehicle trips in these areas, especially if professional trauma level care is not readily available.
2. You have appropriate suction devices to remove it. This means a syringe style suction device, the rubber suction cups often sold in "snake-bite kits" do not develop enough suction to do the job. It is not necessary to cut the wound to suck out venom, it went in through the fang marks and can come out the same way. You should not try to suck it out with your mouth. That is not likely to be effective, risks venom getting into your bloodstream via an open sore, and most importantly is likely to further contaminate the wound. If you lack an appropriate suction device, forget it. If you do try to remove the venom, place the suction device over the fang marks. They may not always be obvious if the snake has bitten hard enough to leave marks from other teeth also. Be aware that you are not going to get out much of the venom. Removal of 5 to 15% would be about all you can expect. The sooner after the bite you start the more effective you will be, the venom disperses quickly.
3. Do not cut into the flesh around the fang marks. While this can, in rare cases, facilitate removal of venom it is also very dangerous. Unless you really know what you are doing you may do more damage than the snake did. Muscles, nerves, and blood vessels may all be in the area and you can damage them, sometimes permanently.
4. Cold Therapy is mentioned only to *strongly* advise against its use. It is *not* effective and, particularly in the case of a pit viper bite, will impede recovery. Cold will restrict circulation already compromised by the damage to blood vessels. Furthermore, the body's principle detoxifying mechanism appears to be the action of antibodies against the venom. Lowering of the temperature retards access of antibodies to the toxins. Cold therapy apparently was proposed on the assumption that the venom is an emzyme. In fact most are peptides which cooling does not inactivate.
5. The most effective thing you can do is to be prepared. Carry a cell phone or other means of emergency communication when hiking or camping, and know how to reach rescue personnel. Carry a snake bite kit when you will be in proximity of venoms snakes, including horseback or motor vehicle trips in these areas, especially if professional trauma level care is not readily available.