[pct-l] Snike bite Kit....!

[steve_peterson at sbcglobal.net (Steve Peterson)]

Here are a few comments from Alex L. Heindl, Curator of Herpetology,
Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 
(http://www.alongtheway.org/rattlesnakes/snakebite.html):

"Though no systematic, nation-wide compilation of annual bite statistics exists, 
it appears that several thousand bites are reported each year.

  Properly treated, most bite victims easily survive with little more than a few 
unpleasant memories to remind them of the incident. In the U.S., only about 0.1% 
? just one in a thousand ? of bites are fatal. Fatalities are more likely among 
young children, because of their small body mass, and elderly adults ? 
particularly those with heart or lung ailments ? because of their generally less 
robust health.

Recent statistics show that most bite victims are men between the ages of twenty 
and forty, and that most bites are on hands and feet. Alcohol is typically 
involved in behavior leading to a bite and the victim is commonly attempting to 
impress friends when the bite occurs. Truly accidental bites are considerably 
less frequent."

The site mentioned above also includes instructions for dealing with bites.

===============

In addition, I've read (can't recall where) that "rattlesnake roundups" 
contribute heavily to the bite statistics. I've also read that aside from guys 
trying to impress people, the second largest category of bite victims is 
professional snake handlers (herpetoligists, zoo keepers, etc.). In absolute 
terms, we are talking less than a dozen deaths/year in the U.S. from snake 
bites. It would seem that if one is careful (put hands and feet only where you 
can see what's there) one is likely to reduce the already-low odds of being 
bitten to darned near zero. Finally, I've read that most defensive bites (the 
type a hiker would typically experience) are not venomous; that venom is 
typically injected only during hunting (and that snakes realize humans are not 
food).

Hope this helps...
--Steve



Randy Forsland wrote:
> Yeah, we had a few snake bite casualties over there, but no snakebite 
> kit in the world will save you from some of the snakes. the banded krait 
> is one that comes to mind...
> 
> But we were not just hiking...we were crawling through bush and all 
> kinds of crap..at night !!!..not the same thing
> 
> Nobody is killing the messenger..they are just saying...don't panic and 
> start taking all kinds of unnecessary equipment..this same discussion 
> comes up regarding ticks and Lyme disease...skeeters and West Nile.
> 
> If you want to be 100% safe, you might as well stay home...just keep in 
> mind, that the most serious throughhike injuries recorded have been 
> automobile related...either coming from or going to the trailhead or 
> while roadwalking..
> 
> So a car-bite kit would probably be a better investment...
> 
> Redwood

>