I would be interested in what other PH's actually carry in terms of anti-snake kits or anti venom if beyond refrigeration or ice. I keep hearing rumors of a anti-venom that does not need to be refrigerated but have yet to see it or know were to lay my hands on it.
I have personally led over 45 expeditions into the jungles of West Africa without a single bite to my clients or staff but would love to know any updates. We have had a few close calls.
To be clear there are portaged safaris very far from the nearest plug in for electricity, unless they now make cords over 20km. long.
I tried to search the archive with no success.
camshaft

Use of anti venom can be worse than the bite.the allergy factor and the wrong type are just two problems

A good single malt and a Rosary!

My father collected over 60 species of live snakes and I have ben around snakes all my life (see website Bombazihunting.com). I know you have to ID the snake and give the proper anti venom. I just wish to know if there are aye that do not require refrigeration.
Cam

On the same note as Scriptus' comment, a PH told me years ago that he carried a "bit of nice stationary and a pen" so that the client could sign the travelers checques and write a nice note to his wife. A really classy PH would provide a single malt and a Rosary as well, just in case there was time.

After buggering-up my own treatment, I'm pretty good at what NOT to do, now!

I know a man who deals with snakes on a daily basis.

He said the best snake remedy is "don't get bit!"

You are all reinforcing what I was afraid was the tuth, in spite of some rumors out there.
Cam

Camshaft,
I don't believe that anybody on here is any more afraid of snakes than Me!!!
The reality, at least for me, is that if you have to charter into your hunting camp (1 to 2 hour flight), have gotten into a hunting vehicle and driven 1 hour out of camp, then pursued your selected quarry for 2 to 6 hours away from the hunting vehicle, you still have that much time to get back for help. I have had 3 PH's tell me that I spend too much time worrying about snakes. While snakebite happens, it probably is less that what we expect and the trackers and the PH don't want to get bitten either so they are vigilant. I'm trying to not worry about it when I go. (Trying)

My issue is that as a PH if I should be doing or buying asomething I want to be ahead of the game.
So far I am of the school to lift the leg with a light tournaquet and apply the Sawyer's suction device to remove what you can through the fang holes.
I am assuming we are 2+ days from a hospital so tht is not an option.
Cam

Non refrigerating type of anti-venom has been in India for many many years.

You get two bottles, one containing the anti venom in a freeze dried form, a white powder, and the other bottle containing distilled water.

The life of the unit is five years without refrigeration.

A syringe is inserted into the water and sucked out, and is then inserted into the powder bottle through the cap. The mixture is shaken and is the administered inter venously.

Of course, the usual precautions such as venom allergy etc have to be taken care of.

The system was developed for the four most common poisonous snakes in India - the cobra, the krait, the Russels viper and the Saw scaled viper.

I dont know if it has any application in Africa.

They used to have a show on here in the states called something like "Venom ER", thinking it was based in Southern California and they centered the show around an ER doc whose specialty seemed to be snakebite invenomations. I remember one episode where one of his patients took around 12 or 13 vials of the fancy antivenom he uses before he got his patient stabilized. To take enough antivenom for each of the different kinds of venomous snakes to assure success, you would have to take a team just to carry the supplies along with you. One of the +s is the time of year that most African hunts take place, Winter. Snake movement is minimal in cold weather. The only year we really had a problem was '07 when I hunted the end of October. HOT and we killed at least one snake a day, several days we killed 3 or 4. Never saw a single snake in the Free State during that hot weather but in Limpopo Province around Tolwe, Baltimore area, they were thick.

when i was bitten by a rattlesnake 4 years ago, it took 18 vials of antivenin to stabilize me over an 18 hour period- at a cost of $3000/vial. bottom line is anti-venin is just not practical in a hunting camp- and it has to be snake specific. stuff that works for a puff adder won't work for a cobra/mamba. the anti-venin used to be made from horse serum with a high incidence of anaphylactic shock due to reaction to horse serum. it is now made from sheep serum with a much lower incidence of reaction. the actual venom is injected into sheep at very low dose levels and the sheep produces antibodies to the venom. this is thin withdrawn from the sheep and concentrated/purified. as an FYI i was in an ER within 30 minutes of being bitten and receiving anti-venin within 40 minutes- and it still took huge amounts to stop the swelling/necrosis.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
when i was bitten by a rattlesnake 4 years ago, it took 18 vials of antivenin to stabilize me over an 18 hour period- at a cost of $3000/vial.

DAMN!! A 22 would have been the cheaper option.

Cam, at risk of asking about a treatment that has been disproved, what about using a stun gun? Years ago, there was thought that the electricity in a stun gun disturbed the proteins in snake venom, rendering it harmless, or at least less harmful. I've also read that this treatment has been discouraged in recent years. I guess my thinking is that if you got bit by a cobra or mamba 20km from anywhere, getting shocked would be the least of your concerns if there was even the slightest chance it might help.

Jeez, Jerry, sorry to hear about that bite. Which of the buzztails was it? I have heard the Mojave rattlesnake you have down there is among the very worst of the crotalids to be bitten by. One account by a bicyclist who stopped, put one foot down and was nailed in the calf by a very large Mojave said it felt like being struck by a 2 X 4.

From all my research a electrical shock only makes things worse, you now have 2 issues; a bite and electric burn.
Cam

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Jeez, Jerry, sorry to hear about that bite. Which of the buzztails was it? I have heard the Mojave rattlesnake you have down there is among the very worst of the crotalids to be bitten by. One account by a bicyclist who stopped, put one foot down and was nailed in the calf by a very large Mojave said it felt like being struck by a 2 X 4.

one of the subspecies of western diamondback( northern Pacific i think). within 5 minutes of being bitten my entire leg felt like it was on fire- plus the actual bite itself felt like a nail being driven into my heal. worse pain i ever i had- and i have had about 10 major surgeries and numerous broken bones. as far as the stun gun- forget it - another old wive's tale. i did quite a bit of retrospective MEDICAL research on the internet will laying around in ICU. it ranks right up there with hooking a set of jumper cables up to the truck battery and giving it a go. your whole extremity is primarily protein. how does the electrical current "know" to denature the venom protein and not your leg muscle?? food for thought. another tidbit- at least as far as North American vipers are concerned, about 30-35% if bites are dry- no venom injected. the so called miracle results from electricity probably fall into that category- except for the likely tissue damage from electrocuting yourself!!!