That is a horrific experience that I hope I will never have to go through (20 years of working with hots w/out a bit but as you said, can happen to ANYONE). I can count on one hand how many times I had a slight breakdown of concentration, or, split second lapse of good judgement when working with hots; so far, those instances played out in my favor but I may not be as lucky the next time. Every day, I closely re-examine my protocols and see where improvements can be made...particularly important since I have a young staff who don't have many years of venomous handling under their belt.



I am going to share your story with them so that they know how quickly an innocent mistake can turn into a life threatening situation. Because of this, I am not requiring any staff working with hots to get their own epi pens that will be kept on site at all times (I just got my two yesterday). At least your experience didn't go in vain!



Keep us posted on your progress and hope for a speedy recovery.



Rob Carmichael, Curator

The Wildlife Discovery Center

Lake Forest, IL





>>I’d first like to thank everyone who expressed concern, emailed, or left phone messages. Even if I was just in your thoughts, I appreciate it. As w/ any bite from a captive, it was a mistake on the keeper’s part. In this case, it was a split second error that almost proved fatal. I have been keeping HOTS for about ten years & have always said “Anyone can make a mistake as we are all human.” As Mr. Harrison stated in his official release, “Bites, he said, are just something snake owners get used to. If you play with guns, eventually you could get shot," he said. "If you handle snakes, eventually you could get bit. It’s a risk." As Duffy pointed out, there are hazards involved in everyday life. Consider the job hazards involved w/ being a foundry or construction worker (both jobs I’ve had) & what about the perils our men in uniform face everyday? These are risks we accept & try to prevent. I did get grazed two years ago & I learned a valuable lesson that day & took precautionary measures to ensure the same mistake did not repeat itself. Unfortunately, we all learn from our mistakes & I will def. make adjustments to prevent this kind of thing from happening again. I am fully aware that these incidents affect more people than the person envenomated & hate to see all the press (which is usually – as in this case – not 100% accurate).

>> With that being said, this IS what happened for those who are as curious as I am. My friend was @ my place & we were taking pictures of the Ball Pythons we have available. This is his first year doing the “snake thing” so this was quite a traumatic experience for him as well. We were pretty much done when I decided to grab two more Pythons. I was in a hurry & simply opened the wrong drawer (yes, the are labeled). Since I was working w/ the Balls, I had my guard down for a split second & that is all it took. My yearling male Caramel WDB (prob. one of the meanest snakes I have) was waiting to ambush prey. As soon as I opened the cage, I saw a flash of yellow & felt a slight tap. I immediately closed the drawer, grabbed my epi-pens & asked my friend to drive me to the hospital which is about ten minutes away. I called 911 to have them prepare the hospital for a WDB bite & informed them that I needed Cro-Fab as I am allergic to horses (& about everything else for that matter). They traced the call & realized we were right by the Fire Station/EMT. They instructed us to pull in & let the “professionals” take over. As we pulled in, I could feel my body going into Hyper drive like a freshly bitten mouse. I informed the firemen that I had two Epi-pens on hand & I was going to use one as I slammed it into thigh. That was the last thing I remember until I regained consciousness around 3:00 p.m. on Fri. @ OSU Medical Center (Columbus). According to my friend, the firemen didn’t seem too concerned & told him “not to get excited” as they stood there & watched me go into seizures eight minutes after the bite. He started yelling that they had better get move on & said he would transport me himself if they were going to just stand there. They dropped me on the first attempt to remove me from the car but eventually got me to the hospital where we never get snakebites. They resuscitated me (as my lungs had collapsed) & life-flighted me to Columbus (about 1.5 hrs. away by car) where they didn’t expect me to make it. They did cat scans as they thought I may have fluid on my brain. They did perform a slight fasciotomy on my hand to “check compartment pressure” as my fingers were blue. I eventually came around & was in full spirits as I knew this was going to be real serious. I was just glad to wake AND NOT see my whole arm split open. We told them not to but you know Doctors. They had me out of ICU in 24 hrs. & released me 24 hrs. after that. They initially told my wife they didn’t think I was going to make it & couldn’t believe how quickly I recovered. I was not able to find out how many bags of Cro-Fab I received but 3 – 7 was the answer depending on who I asked. At one time, my diastolic blood pressure was 50 & they said the pH level in my blood was “not typical of a living person.” So that is my weekend – closest to death that I’ve ever been. All I can say is don’t believe it can never happen to you & have Epi-pens on hand. I’m not familiar w/ the details of the Rhino bite that took the life of the OH fireman last year, but I believe (?) he died from Anaphylactic shock. I also believe I would not be here today if I didn’t have the Epi-pens on hand. Everyone stresses the importance of having your own anti-venin but that is not what usually kills you w/in fifteen minutes of a bite. So please see your doctors & get some epinephrine – just in case you happen to make that split second error.

>>

>>P.S. Matt Harris,

>>I remember that little “Jumping Viper” I stomped. I was making an attempt to do a favor for my friend (your customer = U making $$) in MI & picked that animal up w/out being told anything (by you or him) about it. I am not familiar w/ S.A HOTS & had never even heard of one @ the time. I believe you had just started bringing them in?. It was an irregular patterned animal that looked more like a Copperhead than a Bothrops. I bring the thing home & decide to water the critter & put it on some heat, only to discover why the common name is “Jumping Viper”. I had a whole in the baseboard of my snakeroom (fixed now) & that thing went straight to it & FAST. Never expected that so I had no choice to stomp it before it got “loose” in my crawl space – I sure did feel bad about it. Now that you bring it up, I don’t blame you but it would have been nice if you had given me some (any) background info. on that guy. Of course I should have educated myself but had not planned on providing it w/ anything. Need I remind you that he (your customer) was one of two MI residents bitten by Bushmasters last year (2 yrs. ago ?).? Again, nobody’s perfect but I guess you could be the first....

>>
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Rob Carmichael, Curator

The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm

Lake Forest, IL

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