5. Get the patient to medical help as soon as possible, continuing the first-aid treatment enroute. Keep the patient quiet and do not let him get frightened or excited. Rather than require the patient to walk or otherwise exercise, medical aid should be brought to him.
6. If medical help is not available, and if Epsom salts can be obtained, apply cloths soaked in a strong, hot solution of Epsom salts over the cuts. The sucking, however, should be continued for at least half an hour, preferably for an hour or more. Never give alcoholic stimulants or use permanganate of potash. Snakebite kits give complete instructions; follow them carefully.
Poison mechanism of the rattlesnake Redrawn from Dr. Fox
1. Poison gland. 2. Hollow fang. 3. Poison duct. 4. Constrictor muscle. 5. Eye. 6. Nasal opening. 7. Pouch enclosing fangs (not shown in drawing). 8. Tongue.
Rattlesnake venom contains digestive enzymes which attack and destroy tissue, and because of this and the possibility of bacterial infection introduced by cutting the skin, another method of treatment—cryotherapy (treatment with cold)—advocated by Dr. Herbert L. Stahnke, Poisonous Animals Laboratory, Arizona State University, seems to be gaining more and more support. This technique is designed to prevent and control the chemical action of the venom and of bacteria, as well as minimizing stress. This latter action is extremely important, since recent research work has indicated that the physiological products produced by the body under stress may more than double the toxic effects of the venom. Cut-and-suction, or any similar treatment, tends to greatly increase stress.
The following description of treatment is excerpted from “American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,” Volume 6, Number 2, March, 1957, The Treatment of Snake Bite, by Herbert L. Stahnke, Fredrick M. Allen, Robert V. Horan, and John H. Tenery:
1. Place a ligature (tight tourniquet) at once between the site of the bite and the body, but as near the point of entrance of the venom as possible.
2. Place a piece of ice on the site while preparing a suitable vessel of crushed ice and water.
3. Place the bitten hand or other member in the iced water well above the point of ligation.