WTSP (Tampa Bay, Florida) 17 September 05 Professional snake handler bitten
Homestead, Florida: A professional snake handler is hospitalized in serious condition after being bitten by a Western Diamondback rattlesnake.
Miami-Dade Police say the 49-year-old man was performing an educational show yesterday for children in Homestead when the snake bit him.
The man's name has not been released.
Captain Al Cruz of the Miami-Dade Police Department Antivenin Unit says the man did not immediately seek medical attention, jeopardizing his chances for survival.
Cruz says the man was given 20 vials of antivenin serum last night.
The snake bit the man on the leg just above his boot.
Cruz says the man was wearing proper foot protection, but rattlesnakes can sense heat, so the snake struck him where it detected heat.
The handler secured the snake before it could bite anyone else.
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=18934
MIAMI HERALD (Florida) 16 September 05 Delayed call threatens life of snake victim (Robert L. Steinback)
A professional snake handler was fighting for his life Thursday night after being bitten by a Western Diamondback rattlesnake during a presentation earlier in the day in Homestead, Miami-Dade Police reported.
The handler, whose name was withheld by police as required by privacy regulations, was in serious condition at Homestead Hospital Thursday night being treated with antivenin serum. He still needed to make more progress before his condition could be considered stable, said Capt. Al Cruz of the Miami-Dade Police Department Antivenin Unit.
The victim jeopardized his chances for survival by delaying his call for medical attention, Cruz said.
''He didn't call for help right away, but it continued to get worse,'' said Cruz, speaking from the hospital. Waiting ``works to your disadvantage. Time is of the essence. It's like a ticking time bomb.''
A typical rattlesnake bite victim might need eight to 12 vials of antivenin serum. Partly because of the delay, this victim was given 20 vials before midnight Thursday. Snake venom causes severe tissue degradation and blood disorders that can result in a form of shock, Cruz said.
''Your blood pressure drops so low that your heart can't function and you stop breathing,'' he explained.
Cruz said he didn't know what had caused the snake to strike the handler.
The snake bit the handler on the leg just above his boot, Cruz said. That's testimony to the species' ability to sense its warm-blooded target: rattlesnakes and others in the pit viper family have a heat sensor that can discern temperature differences as small as a third of a degree, Cruz said. It can strike accurately even in total darkness.
The creature that bit the handler was between five and six feet long, Cruz said. Western Diamondbacks can reach seven feet in length.
The handler was able to secure the snake before it posed a danger to anyone else, Cruz said.
The Western Diamondback rattlesnake is not indigenous to South Florida, but it is a close cousin of the Eastern Diamondback, which is found here, Cruz said. Both are among the most toxic snakes in nature, capable of delivering four to five times the venom needed to kill an adult human in a single bite.
''Western Diamondbacks are the No. 1 killer in the country when it comes to venomous snakes, mainly because they're so prevalent in the Southwest, plus very toxic,'' said Cruz.
The victim ``only got one fang, and it caused a massive amount of swelling.''
The Miami-Dade Police Department maintains more than 40 types of snake bite antidotes, one of the best-stocked centers in the nation. The unit has treated more than 800 poisonous snake bite victims. Cruz emphasized that anyone bitten by a snake known or suspected of being poisonous should not wait because symptoms can develop slowly. This is particularly true of the coral snake, another variety found in South Florida, for which severe symptoms might take 12 hours to develop.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/12658842.htm?source=rss&channel=miamiherald_local
