WARWICK DAILY NEWS (Australia) 05 December 13 Snakes bring a danger to Southern Downs

Southern Downs residents are being warned of the dangers of snake bites this summer following two separate incidents in the area on Tuesday.

A two-year-old boy from Toowoomba was taken to Texas Hospital and later flown to the Mater Children's Hospital in Brisbane following a suspected bite at Sundown National Park on Tuesday morning, while an 18-year-old man was transported to the Warwick Hospital following a suspected brown snake bite in Pratten on Tuesday afternoon.

Warwick paramedic Teresa Pitt said residents needed to be aware of the dangers coming into snake season.

"Residents need to be aware of the snakes, particularly browns and Taipans which are more aggressive," she said.

When a person is bitten the first step is to assess the danger of the situation.

"Make sure you don't put yourself in danger, if the snake is still around steer clear of it," she said. "Identify the snake if you can."

The next step is to identify where the bite is and keep the victim quiet, according to Ms Pitt.

"Keep the person calm and still, while immobilising the limb where the bite has occurred," she said.

"Walking or moving the limb around will increase blood flow to the heart and spread the venom around the body."

Compression bandages are the key tool in treating a snake bite.

Ms Pitt said a compression bandage should be applied to the bite area.

"Apply the compression bandage to the bite area, wrapping the bandage up and down on the affected limb," she said.

Fellow paramedic Bernie O'Brien said the whole affected limb must be bandaged.

"It's important to do the full limb," he said.

Ms Pitt said calling 000 was an important step, with the patient needing to get to a hospital as fast as possible.

"You need to get to hospital as quick you can," she said.

"Paramedics will pretty much just load and go when they arrive, monitoring the patient's condition every five minutes on the trip to hospital."

Ms Pitt said while snakes don't always inject venom, it was important to seek treatment.

Mr O'Brien said it was important to have a first aid kit with compression bandages in case of a snake bite.

"Most people should have a kit - especially on farms," he said.

All Queensland Ambulance stations sell first aid kits, with a snake bite kit available at the Warwick Ambulance Station for $12.
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