"I just went through a Wilderness First Aid course this past weekend. They said not to use the Sawyer Extractor (and definitely not the old Cutter devices). They showed us some gnarly photos of snake bite victims."
What kind of snakes caused the bites in the 'gnarly photos'? When I lived in East Texas they said the copperheads caused the most tissue damage, that you could lose the muscel that was injected with venom. I haven't heard of that kind of damage with our local pacific rattlesnakes.
I did hear that the reason that they initially adviced not to use the 'cut and suction' kits because people were too excited after a snake bite and the victims ended up with major slashes with the razor blade. So I wonder, do the people who are recommending not to use the Sawer, just feel the general public is too incompent to use it (delaying the trip to the hospital) or is it truly a bad idea to remove the venom that will easily come out of the puncture marks. I demo the Sawyer on my arm to people on a regular basis. I find that it has strong, but resonable suction, and I have never received a bruise - just slight redness for a few minutes. I would not use it on someone with delicate skin such as a baby or elderly person. But what are the chances of that?
A great discussion is at
http://gorp.away.com/gorp/health/snakefaq13.htm. Here is an exerpt "Approximately 75 percent of all snakebites occur in people aged between 19 and 30 years, 1 percent to 2 percent occur in women, and less than 1 percent occur in blacks. Approximately 40 percent of all snakebites occur in people who are handling or playing with snakes, and 40 percent of all people bitten had a blood alcohol level of greater than 0.1 percent. Sixty-five percent of snakebites occur on the hand or fingers, 24 percent on the foot or ankle, and 11 percent elsewhere.
So it seems that getting drunk and messing about snakes is a big cause of getting bitten. It also seems that male yahooism is a precursor to snake toxin poisoning. Women are unlikely to get themselves bitten, and if they do get bitten, it is unlikely that they got that way by doing something stupid. "
Reach Air Medical Services -Summer 2002 "Treat the bite site with a clean dressing. Attempts to cut, suck or remove the venom are considered to be ineffective and should not be attempted. There is one device on the market called the "Sawyer" extractor. It is a suction device which has been shown to remove some venom from bite sites if used within the first five to ten minutes of the bite. It is not common for pre-hospital care providers to have this device, but if it is available and less than 10 minutes have passed, is considered a reasonable tool to attempt to extract some of the venom. The studies from this have been somewhat controversial, but it is the only device which appears to provide any significant removal of venom from the tissues."
http://www.mediplane.com/Newsletter/Archives/Summer_2002/summer_2002.html I would love to hear a specific medical reason for not using the Sawyer immediately if it does not delay evac.
Great discussion, knowledge we should all keep in mind when choosing to live in rattlesnake territory.
