TIMES-NEWS (Twin Falls, Idaho) 20 May 05 Rattlesnake bite sends Dietrich man to hospital (Karma Metzler Fitzgerald)
Richfield: A Dietrich man was hospitalized Thursday after a rattlesnake bit him on the hand.
Leland Towne was working at the Jim Burns Slough six miles north of Richfield when he moved a rock and was struck by the snake.
Towne, a Big Wood River Canal Co. employee, was working near equipment and probably did not hear the rattlesnake buzz, said company spokesman Lynn Harmon.
The bite happened just before 3 p.m. Thursday while crews were resurfacing the bridge over the slough. Towne was driven into Richfield where a Lincoln County EMS ambulance met him and transported him to Magic Valley Regional Medical Center.
Mike Bright of Lincoln County EMS said Towne was quite calm while being transported. He said each person reacts differently to rattlesnake bites. There is swelling at the bite and some people get nauseous or dizzy.
"It varies," Bright said. "If your body system can't handle it, it can be lethal."
Bright said rattlesnake victims are transported to the nearest hospital and anti-venom is administered. He said most of the larger facilities in the area carry the anti-venom, which counteracts the snake's poison.
In the last four or five years, Bright said this is only the third rattlesnake bite he's aware of in Lincoln County. The county's large lava fields and rock formations make perfect hiding places for snakes and most people are used to living around them.
"If you hear one stop and find where they are," Bright said. "If it's next to you stay still and the snake will likely move away from you."
Harmon said the last reports coming into the canal office were that Towne was still groggy and sick to his stomach from the anti-venom and his hand was still quite swollen.
A Magic Valley Regional spokeswoman said Towne remained hospitalized Thursday night. He was listed in stable condition.
Rattlesnake bite sends Dietrich man to hospital