SAMPSON INDEPENDENT (N Carolina) 04 July 06 Beware of the snakes! (Dave Frank)

Nurses at Sampson Regional Medical Center administered 12 viles of anti-venom to a 75-year-old woman who entered the building in stable condition around 10:15 p.m. June 22 but was airlifted three and a half hours later to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

A rattlesnake had bitten her.

Keeping with policy, Sampson Regional Medical Center officials declined to release the woman’s name and UNC Hospitals would not release further information unless a name was provided.

Ann Butler, vice president of marketing at Sampson Regional, did say, however, that a venomous snakebite requires at least four viles of Crofab, the $2,000-a-vile medicine used to treat the woman. Up to 16 viles may be needed to treat a given snakebite.

According to Dan Bailey of the Sampson County Cooperative Extension Service, rattlesnakes, as well as copperheads and cottonmouths, are “prevalent” in the county — especially the southern region. When they are by a home, however, it’s usually because they are attracted to a food source, such as rodents.

When snakesbites do occur, they are rarely lethal.

In 2005, the Carolinas Poison Center reported 317 bites statewide — two resulting in death and 16 having a “major effect.” So far this year, they have reported 94 bites — none deadly and two having a “major effect.”

If a bite does occur, though, Michelle Warner, nurse manager at Sampson Regional, said a victim should seek medical attention immediately and not apply ice to the wound or bandage it. This restricts blood to the area and could cause serious tissue damage.

She also said people should be wary of snakes in shrubbery, pinestraw, overgrowth and around their porch.

Sarah Cross, of the North Carolina Wildlife Recourses Commission, said it’s important to remember that 9 out of 10 snakes in North Carolina, such as black racers or king snakes, are non-venomous.

“They’re just as benign as squirrels,” the reptile expert said, adding that even venomous snakes are seldom a threat to people, and the bites that do occur are usually on the hands of males under 30 who are unwisely “playing ‘Crocodile Hunter.’”

“Most importantly, be aware of what the venomous snakes are,” she said. “They have very distinctive looks.

Mike Dorkis, an associate professor of biology at Davidson College, said “you’d pretty much have to step on one to get bit.”

The hepatology lab in his department also runs the Web site, www.herpsofnc.org, which lists detailed information about all the venomous snakes in the county — coperheads, cottonmouths and three types of rattlesnakes: eastern diamondbacks, timber (or canebrakes) and pygmies.

“Like anything, snakes basically just want to be left alone,” he added.
Beware of the snakes!

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