How to Treat a Snake Bite

Video Transcript

"Hi. I'm Mike Meyers with Zion Wilderness Survival School for Expert Village. We talked a little bit about some of the dangers in the wilderness, I want to add two more to them. One of them is flash floods which we've mentioned before. The danger with flash floods is that the storm that causes the water, the rain, can often have occurred twenty, thirty miles away. And, the water is rushing down these canyons in our direction. And, you're down here on a nice summer day. And, all of a sudden you have a torrent of water coming through this slot canyon. So, be aware that flash floods can occur at any time in the desert. The other danger that I want to mention because it can happen in the desert, deserts in the wintertime get cold, and that's hypothermia, a combination of being wet and being cold. Those two things together can be life threatening. So, first of all, especially in the winter time, stay dry. You know, don't do things that are going to get you wet if you can avoid it. Don't be splashing around in a stream, or trying to cross a dangerous stream and getting all wet. You need to stay warm because the combination of water and cold, and it only needs to be forty or fifty degrees, can be lift threatening. The other threat that you can run into, and we'll talk a little bit about the first aid here, let's talk about the first, the most obvious one, that most people talk about...snakes, rattlesnakes. If you should be bitten by a rattlesnake, know first of all that the odds of you dying are pretty low. Few people die from rattlesnake bites. It is possible. But, you could get very sick. The best thing to do if you do get bitten, after having done everything you can to avoid being bitten, but if you do get bitten, the best thing to do, number one, is to be as calm as you can. Don't freak out. Don't start running. Don't try to hike out. Stop. Calm yourself down. And, everybody who wants to desert hike or even hiking in the mountains should carry what's called a Sawyer extractor. It looks like a big syringe. And, over the end of it, it has various size cups that you place there. So, if you've been bitten on the arm, the best thing to do is take the little razor blade. This is not to cut yourself with. I'm going to shave the area right here. Shave the area so that I will get a good seal, good suction. It is not used to cut the wound. And, you place the extractor over the bite marks. Can you see where it's pulling that lump of flesh up inside? That's the suction it's creating. I will leave that there for ninety seconds to two minutes. And then, I will empty the venom out of it. Then, I'll redo it or go to a second fang if they're far apart. Normally, with this large sized one, I can get out all in one. I have smaller sized ones as well for smaller bites. You leave it on for ninety seconds to two minutes. If the bites are too far apart, take it off and put it on the other bite. Do the same thing. And, just leave it there and it will create the suction to take the venom out. See that mark it left from the suction there? You will not get all of the venom out of the wound. You might get upwards of forty to fifty percent maximum. But, that can be enough to limit the damage that the bite will do to you. Then, stay calm. Lie down and try to keep the bite below your heart. Below your heart. Okay. This can also be used for spider bites, scorpion stings, bee stings, anything that invenomates, that injects venom into your body. This can be used to remove the venom. This is a great tool. I would not go in the wilderness without one."