Snakebite! (sorta graphic)

Last Friday my brother in law "killed" a small rattlesnake with a rock, then decided to toss the carcass away. It nailed him in the thumb. Twenty-two vials of anti-venom later, it looks like he may get to keep the thumb. I'm showing these to my grand kids as a safety briefing.

EEEWWW...
Never good, good luck to your BIL

New rule: Behead the snake first!

Ouch !

+1
Did it last weekend i always cut there head off.

the last one I killed I blew its head off with the shotty. Picked it up and it still struck at my leg. Skerr'd the ever luvin' doo doo outta me. Glad he's ok.

That sucks.

22 vials!

How do they administer them and how do they know how many to give and when enough is enough?

I just want to know what the hospital bill looked like! I heard 1 vial is around $20K. Could just be internet BS but that's what I have seen.

Ouch!!!

even if you cut the head off they can still bite you! glad it looks like he's keeping his thumb!

JCB, you're pretty close. This happened out in southern Arizona. My wife there visiting and was near enough to take him to a Nogales hospital. They ambulanced him to Tucson. Last I heard his bill was close to $88K.

HTxH: I guess they give them by injection. Don't have a clue on figuring the dosage. Let's hope we never have to find out!

Ugh! Glad he is going to get to keep his thumb.

Seems like they can run up the bill "erring on the side of caution" by injecting you with excess anti-venom.

Who is going to argue the point though with your life on the line....

Glad he's doing good!

I did some checking after I posted that comment. Looks like 20-25 vials is pretty much the average. Price per vial is all over the place though. Some people say their treatment was $2500 per vial and another says their treatment was $20K per vial. Seems like $2500-$3500 per vial is the most common figure that pops up. But that's just for the vials so add in all the other costs and that cash register starts to sing "cha-ching"!

If I didn't have insurance I might just ask them to remove my thumb if that would be cheaper.

All joking aside.......glad he is going to be alright.

Actually one of the best ones I've seen... got off lucky?

WOW. Glad everything is going to be ok.

Wow that looks really painful. Glad he is going to be okay. This is one of the reason that I hate snakes, at my place and kill them all.

Walter

The anti venom is called CroFab. It's avg price is around $4,700 per dose (this may have changed since the last time I checked). It's usually dosed on a 4-6 vial per hour schedule until symptoms are controlled. So yes, it can add up very quickly. As mentioned before, then you tack on all other expenses, ambulance ride, ER visit, etc. But, if it means you won't lose a limb or your life, who cares how much it costs....in my opinion.

Yup...keep pumping it in until the symptoms of envenomation start to subside....this is why you simply leave snakes alone and they will leave you alone. Most bites involve a "hold my beer and watch this" moment rather than stepping or reaching where the snake is. Most snakes just want to be left alone...kinda like a lot of people I know.

More people have been bit by "dead" snakes than live ones I think... glad he's gonna be ok!

Cut the head off, bury it, then discard the snake.

That looks like it hurt. Glad to hear he's gonna be OK. I don't kill many snakes because usually they just want to be left alone and that's fine with me. If I see a agressive one like cotton mouths or copper heads I kill it and leave it for the predators to eat. I see no reason to pick it up and this experience you BIL just had is why I will continue to leave them lay for the predators.

Lucky. Glad he's OK.

May have to remove your hand or arm, depending on how long it takes to prep you for surgery!

I might be wrong but that ring around his wrist is "sharpie" marker showing where the venom has progressed. I saw a documentary a while back on snake bites where the docs had marked all the way up to the shoulder while waiting on the anti-venom.

I just leave snakes alone unless they're somewhere they're not supposed to be! Especially the "rat" type snakes....

owwieeee!

Glad he got treatment! could have been worse I suppose, like a neck bite.

I have an uncle, that was a medic in Vietnam, whene he came back stateside after discharge, he collected venom (mostly rattlesnake and had a huge amount of snakes) and sold them to facilities that produced the anti-venom. iirc, he said they injected it into horses back then, then drew out the antibodies or serum? Said he actually made a decent amount of $, until the regulations started getting real stringent.

Had a dog get bit and needed ONE vial- $2000.00......maybe they give dogs different stuff? Glad he kept the thumb...yucky

I'm extremely cautious around 'dead' snakes. In fact I killed a rattler tuesday by my bedroom door on the porch. He was coiled and ready to strike too. I usually step out at about 4am to wee-wee. I will be very cautious from now on.

No bueno.

My dad got hit in the shin by a copperhead last year, each dosage of anti-venom was 7500 at local hospital, he had to have 11 of them. They gave him his in a iv, along with some antibiotics.