Faster Than Your Couch!
Now that I have had several encounters with rattlesnakes, and some of them really close, I have researched what is best to do if you get bitten and are alone out there in the middle of the woods, in your running shoes and shorts, without first aid supplies and access to even just simple household items.
1) DON'T PANIC, try to stay calm!
2) Move away from the snake to avoid more bites.
3) Remove any potentially constricting jewelry or clothing. The swelling can get very severe, and rings, bracelets, elastics, hems, etc. can cut off blood flow to the point where the limb dies off.
4) If you have a snake bite kit with you (the Sawyer extractor), you can use it to suck out some of the poison - you'll remove anything from 0 to 30% of the poison, if any was injected. About 20% of rattlesnake bites are "dry" bites, and no poison is injected. It is important, however, to still keep the wound clean to minimize the risk of infection, and to have the bite evaluated in a hospital. Some poisons take several hours to cause problems.
5) Do not put ice on the bite site or on the limb, or immerse it in cold water. It will not decrease the pain, but can increase the swelling. Do not take ibuprofen or similar pain medicine, as this only increases the hemolytic effect of the snake poison, causing excessive bleeding. Do not take any other medicine or food or drink.
6) Keep the limb with the bite below or at heart level, but don't let it hang dangling down, as this will increase swelling.
7) If you think you'll get medical help within 2 hours, you can use an ACE bandage above the bite site to decrease blood flow back to the heart and minimize the spread of the poison. You should be able to slip a finger underneath the bandage, don't try to make a turniquet and cut off blood flow completely! And you may have to adjust the bandage as swelling increases!
However, if you anticipate help will take longer to arrive, don't apply the ACE bandage, as it won't be beneficial after 2 hours, and the risk of tissue damage increases.
8) If you're alone in the middle of nowhere, your chances of survival are best if you walk out slowly with frequent rest stops, rather than waiting it out. If you have someone with you, or can get help over the phone, let them get help and stay where you are, try to keep your heart rate low.
It is best if the antivenom is given within 2 hours of the bite, but if you have to walk out, much more time can elapse. The antivenom is still the best and only effective treatment, even if given 8 or more hours after the bite.
9) Try to remember or tell another person (or make a note somewhere where it can be found quickly) which snake bit you. While the treatment of most rattlesnake bites is similar, the poison of the Mojave rattlesnake requires different treatment (their poison contains a neurotoxic component as well), as do copperhead and cottonmouth snake bites. But never, ever, try to catch the snake to identify it!
Best, of course, is to avoid getting bitten by a snake.
Jumping over a snake is a sure-fire way to get bitten, even if it works in your favor once or twice. Don't do it on purpose, it will only aggrevate the snake.
For all snake bites, not only the systemic effects (effects on the whole body and neurosystem) are dangerous, but the local effects of the poison (which is meant to pre-digest the prey, so it will destroy tissues locally), or infection, can be devastating as well. Snake bites can cause long-term or permanent disability through losing a finger, a limb, or major muscles and tendons.
After being discharged from the hospital, it is still important to monitor the bite for signs of infection, or increasing pain, and seek medical help again if it does not get better soon.
Well, happy trails nonetheless!
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Good information that I hope never to use.
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Is there a time frame when snakes "go away"? In other words, what is snake season? summer mostly?
I have to admit that if I was alone in a remote area and got bit, I would have a tendency to run it out back to the car and get myself to a hospital. Not sure I like the idea of trying to walk it out.
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Snakes are less active when it gets colder, like in the fall, or when it is very hot and dry. In my experience, in PA the snakes retreat for hibernation around October, and you will see far less of them in later September already. Depends on the weather.
They re-appear in the spring, in PA usually in late April (you'll see them rarely then) or in May.
They like to bask in patches of open areas, like on trails or roads, rocks or a clearing. They hide underneath rocks, in brush, or under logs, so it is good to look out for them when climbing over rocks or logs, and when running/hiking along overgrown areas. Don't reach anywhere where you can't see, don't step over or into anything where you can't see where your foot will land. (Easier said than done in running).
Timber rattlesnakes are usually hesitant to strike, but they will bite if stepped on, or aggrevated. And you never know if a snake has something that bothers it (like parasites, an illness, an injury, an encounter with a predator,...), if it's very hungry, or just has a bad day, so it will strike much earlier than "usual".
Some rattlesnakes don't rattle at all, although most will. I usually hear them before I see them.
When I was continuing my run after jumping over that one rattler (that did not rattle), I realized that it is virtually impossible to spot a snake when you run along blueberry brush, unless the snake lies right across the trail. So now I stay away from that mountain where I have encountered most snakes, and have decided to run trails only with my buddy, not alone. Maybe this is a year with many more rattlesnakes than usual?
I'll run on the logging and gravel roads, they are great in my area, and much safer in this respect than the trails. Come fall, I'll be out there again.
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I've seen at least one snake on every run this summer. There seem to be a ton of them this year! I usually stop, grab a branch, and urge them off the trail. I worry about people with young kids or dogs coming along behind me more so than myself so I do my best to get them out of harms way.
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Good info, I was actually thinking about this not long ago.
With the steady amount of rain that we have been getting this year the trails I run on are getting overgrown. Even the Mid State trail has laurel growing out over it and the ferns are starting to take over some of the other ones that I use. While I don't see many snakes where I run I know they are out there and it's starting to bother me when I run the overgrown trails. I'd like to do some trail maintence but I'm just too busy. DW wants to get back out and do some hiking so maybe I'll take her along while I cut some of the junk down.
My dilemma is that I really, really need to get my miles in to prepare for my 100k this fall. I guess I may just have to switch to the dirt roads a little more and limit the single track.
Good information.
I would caution a bit on the use of an ace bandage. In the U.S., the majority of venomous snakes have hemotoxic venom which attacks the blood and tissues. Any restriction will help concentrate the venom in the area increasing the damage to the muscle tissue; however, it is still better than dying. If applied loose enough, as you mentioned, it would be fine, but the chances are the person bit will be in a panic and the ace bandage will end up being too tight. There is a fine line between too tight and just right when an ace bandage is used on hemotoxic envenomations. If you apply the ace bandage, it is best not to remove it. Doing so could quickly send a large amount of venom circulating through your system and cause immediate reactions. It is best to wait for the EMTs or doctors to remove it.
I also wouldn't waste the money on a snakebite kit as they are useless on snakebites.
Dawn/dusk are likely to be your best chances for encountering a snake. During the summer, rattlesnake become more and more nocturnal in order to avoid the heat of the day. By the time the high temperatures near 60F in the fall, the snakes start to move toward their hibernaculua (dens) which tend to be located on south-facing slopes.
Eric
Great info Eric (and Couch). I have to admit this freaks me out a bit...actually a lot. But I have yet to encounter a rattler. I run at dawn so this is a concern. But I am staying away from some of my fav winter trails simply because they are overgrown this time of year. But trails are trails and I imagine they are out there.
It really is scary but I imagine it would just hurt like shit. I can't see dying from it unless you go unattended for hours and hours.
Do snakes just bite and let go or would you have to pull it off of you or something? I would be freaking the f out.
For the most parts, snakes just bite and let go. Some non-venomous snakes will chew a bit while they bite, but the venomous ones usually let go quickly.
Dying from a snakebite depends on multiple factors including: the amount of venom injected, the species of snake (potency of venom), the health of the person bitten, the sensitivity of the person to the venom, how calm the bitten person reemained, and how quickly treatment was applied.
The treatment of the bite can be nearly as dangerous sometimes. The old antivenom, Wyeth, was created using horses and had a fairly high rate of anaphalaxis. The newer antivenom, CroFab, is made using sheep and has a lower rate of anaphalaxis. The average dose of CroFab is about 12 vials, but some bites have taken as much as 70 vials to treat. IIRC, the cost of CroFab use to run about $1,000/vial so the cost to treat a snakebite can be pricey. There is another antivenom, Antivipmyn, which has had a better success rate, but the last I knew it was not approved by the FDA. At the time, 2002ish, it only cost about $65/vial.
It is not the possibility of dying from a snakebite (fairly rare nowadays, more people die from bee stings, or lightning strikes) that freaks me out, but the local damage to the tissues. If you get bitten by a rattlesnake, it is possible that you won't be able to walk or run again, or you may lose the use of a hand.
In the internet, there is a story about a young boy who was bitten in the finger. It took almost two years to get the function of his hand back (not completely, but enough for daily tasks), he needed several skin grafts and a flap reconstruction, got muscles and skin taken out from his back and thighs, and the whole ordeal totaled around 700,000 dollars. Pretty pricey for an afternoon hike.
Well I'm back to being a road runner. CYA!!!! That is freaky scary.
It is not the possibility of dying from a snakebite (fairly rare nowadays, more people die from bee stings, or lightning strikes) that freaks me out, but the local damage to the tissues. If you get bitten by a rattlesnake, it is possible that you won't be able to walk or run again, or you may lose the use of a hand. In the internet, there is a story about a young boy who was bitten in the finger. It took almost two years to get the function of his hand back (not completely, but enough for daily tasks), he needed several skin grafts and a flap reconstruction, got muscles and skin taken out from his back and thighs, and the whole ordeal totaled around 700,000 dollars. Pretty pricey for an afternoon hike.