COURIER MAIL (Brisbane, Australia) 17 April 07 Venemous state (Janelle Miles)
Queenslanders are much more likely to die from snake bites, wasp stings or a reaction to tick venom than other Australians, experts say.
Between 1979 and 1998, 20 Queenslanders died after being bitten by a snake, almost double the number from any other state or territory.
Over two-thirds of those deaths were caused by brown snakes, and most of the victims were not given appropriate first aid, emergency specialist Bill Nimo said.
Nine Australians died from wasp stings – eight in Queensland and one in northern NSW – between 1979 and 2006.
And of the three Australians who have died from ticks in the same period, two were Queenslanders.
So it's not surprising Australia's top venom experts chose the Sunshine Coast for a national toxicology conference at the weekend to share their knowledge about how to treat potentially deadly bites and stings.
Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit statistics show about 4000 people present to emergency departments each year as a result of a bite or sting.
Dr Nimo, the Australian Venom Research Unit deputy director, said medical training on the treatment of venomous bites and stings had been a neglected field.
"We have a lot of overseas-trained doctors working in Australia and their knowledge is going to be far less than what our own trained doctors are," he said.
"They have little knowledge about our beautiful but dangerous creatures yet they often work in areas with a high incidence of bites and stings."
Dr Nimo said appropriate first aid for a snake bite was to apply a firm pressure bandage to the entirety of the bitten limb about as tight as for a sprained ankle.
"Venom is actually absorbed by what we call the lymphatic system, and is not absorbed by the veins or the arteries," Dr Nimo said.
"By using a bandage, that actually collapses the lymphatic system and decreases the rate of the spread of the venom."
The wound should not be washed, to allow doctors to identify the type of snake with a venom detection kit once the patient gets to hospital.
But Dr Nimo said the patient should keep the limb immobilised and wait for paramedics to arrive rather than try to walk out of bushland.
University of Melbourne venom expert Ken Winkel warned outdoor workers, people susceptible to allergies, asthmatics and those on blood-pressure-lowering drugs known as beta blockers or ACE inhibitors should be particularly careful of wasps, bees and ticks.
They may be susceptible to an allergic reaction known as anaphalaxis if bitten or stung.
Dr Winkel said reactions may intensify the more stings a person receives.
People with known allergies should seek medical advice about carrying an EpiPen adrenalin injector, or undertaking a desensitisation program for wasp and bee venom.
But Dr Winkel said desensitisation was not available for certain types of native wasps.
Venemous state