Doctors appeal:

“Don’t bring poisonous snakes to hospital”

An eastern brown snake, one of the most venomous land snakes in the world.

(Bild: Ken Griffiths/stock.adobe.com)

Doctors in Australia have urged victims of snake bites not to bring the animals to hospital for identification in future. Especially in the tropical region of Queensland, hospital staff are confronted with some of the most poisonous snakes in the world.

Patients mistakenly believed that bringing the snake with them could be helpful in their treatment, according to a report by the Australian broadcaster ABC on Monday. In one particularly drastic case, staff at Bundaberg Hospital north of Brisbane were handed a clear plastic storage box containing an Eastern Brown Snake, one of the most venomous land snakes in the world, earlier this month. The reptile was barely secured and staff were terrified, the broadcaster quoted Adam Michael, director of emergency medicine at the clinic, as saying. This had considerably delayed the patient's treatment. In addition, people exposed themselves to unnecessary risks when they tried to catch the animals.

Doctors are not snake experts
Bringing snakes into a hospital is not only dangerous, but hospital staff are also generally unable to identify snakes, emphasized Michael. Doctors can use clinical signs, blood tests and snake venom detection kits to determine whether an antivenom is needed and, if so, which one.

3000 snake bites per year, few fatal
In Australia, where many venomous snakes live, an average of 3000 people are bitten by a snake every year. However, according to researchers, only 100 to 200 of these need an antitoxin. Fatal snake bites are rare - most recently in March, a 47-year-old man died while trying to remove an eastern brown snake from a kindergarten. The man was bitten several times on the left arm - but did not know whether it was a poisonous snake. Instead of calling an ambulance, the man drove home. A short time later, he went into cardiac arrest.