Hi All:
As I mentioned Matt Harris & I are in the process of
starting an Antivenom Bank sort of like the one now
operated by Miami-Dade FD.
We have the following progress to report:
The Basic Mission is to provide a source of
antivenom other than AZA institutions and to offset
the expense /paperwork of keeping a private stock of
your own. (Which very few people do anyway.)
A side objective is to slow the eroding public image
of our hobby, as seen in the press out of Michigan
this week. Also to influence/work with State & Local
government to prevent "Out right bans" like the one
just signed into law in NY.
We are working with a major medical center in
Pennsylvania who will host the supply of A/V. This
medical center (which will remain nameless for now)
has a Toxicology Center who's director is working
with us to make this happen. He is known for
snakebite treatment and is a board certified Medical
Toxicologist and Emergency Room Physician. The
facility also has transport at hand for getting A/V
out to the patients or for the patients to be
brought there. Having a great support facility and
staff is key in this sort of emergency. We are
networking with other expert physicians in other
states to get a wide range of coverage. We are
thinking: PA,NY,MD,OH,DC,WV,NJ,CT it's hard to say
because we have no idea who keeps 'Hot snakes' in
states that they are not legal.
We are working on 503c status for the bank, for many
reasons, one of which is it will open up many
additional funding streams for the bank to provide
services to Herpers.
As soon as more pieces fall into place I will let
everyone know. I hope to get a website up soon too.
Please email us and let us know if we can add you to
the email list of those who are interested and what
species you keep.
Best,
Al Coritz (cerastes@earthlink.net)
Matt Harris (MHarris@matabuey.com)
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The reason congressmen try so hard to get re-elected is that they would hate to have to live under the laws they've passed.
