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Can a pill prevent deaths from venomous snakebites?

latimes.com

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Re: Can a pill prevent deaths from venomous snakebites?

#41

Post by m0zzie »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #37
femto wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in Sydney, Australia, head an hour north to visit the Australian Reptile Park. It's a small zoo that additionally specialises in snakes and spiders that can kill you. It is the sole source of the venom that gets used to make Australia's anti-venoms [1]. The Australian Reptile Park may be related to the cost aspect, in that their program provides a ready supply of the raw materials needed for anti-venom. Inc…

That site left too much to the imagination as to how they collect the spider venom. Or is it from a dissection to collect the entire venom containing organ? Was also smirking that the snake venom collection the visuals were either of a person wearing no gloves or easily punctured latex.

They antagonise the funnel-web until it begins striking and the venom is dripping from its fangs, and then they use a liquid dropper to suck that venom up. It is wild.

Here's a video of the place near where I live doing it: https://youtube.com/watch?v=tN-mHIXoXlQ

Re: Can a pill prevent deaths from venomous snakebites?

#42

Post by sandworm101 »

hansvm wrote: post #36
rurp wrote: post #2

It's unclear to me how much damage the pill prevents versus simply delaying it. I didn't see any clear statements on that in the article and there are a few quotes like, "intended to at least buy victims enough time to get to the hospital." If victims still need anti-venom to prevent serious injury then the drug is much less exciting. As the article points out anti-venom treatments are expensive, unreliable, and hard…

In the US that's still crazy exciting. Most of my hikes (at least, before I moved to the Bay), I'd rarely be within a 3h jog of the closest place a chopper could land, and that's assuming you have a satphone or something to actually contact the outside world. Plus, in a ton of states, driving is a privilege, not a right. I've lost my license a few times after the judge in question said I was justified but some bureau…

Choppers don't need to land. Most of the time a rescue chopper would rather not. Winching you up to them is easier/safer than trying to land at an unprepared location. Even without a winch, they would "long line" you to the nearest road where there is room to land.

https://youtu.be/WrllMSTm23c

https://youtu.be/nJZIDwMGHWc

Re: Can a pill prevent deaths from venomous snakebites?

#43

Post by hansvm »

sandworm101 wrote: post #42
hansvm wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US that's still crazy exciting. Most of my hikes (at least, before I moved to the Bay), I'd rarely be within a 3h jog of the closest place a chopper could land, and that's assuming you have a satphone or something to actually contact the outside world. Plus, in a ton of states, driving is a privilege, not a right. I've lost my license a few times after the judge in question said I was justified but some bureau…

Choppers don't need to land. Most of the time a rescue chopper would rather not. Winching you up to them is easier/safer than trying to land at an unprepared location. Even without a winch, they would "long line" you to the nearest road where there is room to land. https://youtu.be/WrllMSTm23c https://youtu.be/nJZIDwMGHWc

Interesting. I probably could have been a lot safer than anticipated.

Re: Can a pill prevent deaths from venomous snakebites?

#44

Post by cf1241290841 »

sandworm101 wrote: post #42
hansvm wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US that's still crazy exciting. Most of my hikes (at least, before I moved to the Bay), I'd rarely be within a 3h jog of the closest place a chopper could land, and that's assuming you have a satphone or something to actually contact the outside world. Plus, in a ton of states, driving is a privilege, not a right. I've lost my license a few times after the judge in question said I was justified but some bureau…

Choppers don't need to land. Most of the time a rescue chopper would rather not. Winching you up to them is easier/safer than trying to land at an unprepared location. Even without a winch, they would "long line" you to the nearest road where there is room to land. https://youtu.be/WrllMSTm23c https://youtu.be/nJZIDwMGHWc

Mountain rescue also has the impossibility to land. Here some HD footage from national geographic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk9QKRM_8Jo

Notice the cut audio track. Giving these people the legal ability to give pain meds cant happen early enough. Mont Blanc helicopter rescue services also make some great documentaries every few years.

The situation is even worse for a lot of snake bite victims, as you cant get lifted out of the rain forest.

Re: Can a pill prevent deaths from venomous snakebites?

#46

Post by trailbits »

FL410 wrote: post #16
dabiged wrote: post #15

> he was administered 28 vials of antivenom intravenously at a cost of $3,400 per vial. As someone who lives in Australia, who grew up with aggressive and deadly snakes, what the actual hell? Nobody is out of pocket in Australia following a snake bite and we have many more species and all of the geographic remoteness of the South Western US. Is this just another case of a side effect of the state of the USA healthcar…

As embarrassing as that sentence is, it is highly unlikely he left with a $95,000 bill, nor is it likely his insurance company actually paid anywhere near that for the vials. The prices that end up on healthcare bills may as well be in another currency, since they tend to be used as placeholders subject to all kinds of contractual math down the road. None of which is to say that our healthcare system ISN'T a mess, it…

Yep, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/09/09/the-c... points out that 70% of the billed cost of antivenin is hospital markup. This isn't even part of expected profit... it's fully expected that this will be discounted for those that are insured. But you never really know what your insurer will pay and there are stories of people dying from refusing treatment, worried about their out of pocket cost.

Re: Can a pill prevent deaths from venomous snakebites?

#47

Post by aaron695 »

dabiged wrote: post #15

> he was administered 28 vials of antivenom intravenously at a cost of $3,400 per vial. As someone who lives in Australia, who grew up with aggressive and deadly snakes, what the actual hell? Nobody is out of pocket in Australia following a snake bite and we have many more species and all of the geographic remoteness of the South Western US. Is this just another case of a side effect of the state of the USA healthcar…

[dead]

Re: Can a pill prevent deaths from venomous snakebites?

#48

Post by dx034 »

cf1241290841 wrote: post #44
sandworm101 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Choppers don't need to land. Most of the time a rescue chopper would rather not. Winching you up to them is easier/safer than trying to land at an unprepared location. Even without a winch, they would "long line" you to the nearest road where there is room to land. https://youtu.be/WrllMSTm23c https://youtu.be/nJZIDwMGHWc

Mountain rescue also has the impossibility to land. Here some HD footage from national geographic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk9QKRM_8Jo Notice the cut audio track. Giving these people the legal ability to give pain meds cant happen early enough. Mont Blanc helicopter rescue services also make some great documentaries every few years. The situation is even worse for a lot of snake bite victims, as you cant get l…

They can't give pain meds in the US? I believe in most of Europe, there's always a doctor on board of rescue helicopters, so they routinely administer drugs on board or on site of the accident.

Re: Can a pill prevent deaths from venomous snakebites?

#49

Post by whynotkeithberg »

hansvm wrote: post #36
rurp wrote: post #2

It's unclear to me how much damage the pill prevents versus simply delaying it. I didn't see any clear statements on that in the article and there are a few quotes like, "intended to at least buy victims enough time to get to the hospital." If victims still need anti-venom to prevent serious injury then the drug is much less exciting. As the article points out anti-venom treatments are expensive, unreliable, and hard…

In the US that's still crazy exciting. Most of my hikes (at least, before I moved to the Bay), I'd rarely be within a 3h jog of the closest place a chopper could land, and that's assuming you have a satphone or something to actually contact the outside world. Plus, in a ton of states, driving is a privilege, not a right. I've lost my license a few times after the judge in question said I was justified but some bureau…

May I ask what were the circumstances that lead them to decide taking your permission to drive away was the right course?

Re: Can a pill prevent deaths from venomous snakebites?

#50

Post by dreamcompiler »

Statistically this seems much less of a big deal for the US than for elsewhere.

Total number of fatal snakebites per year, worldwide: 138,000 (article points this out).

Total number of those in the US: 5. (Not 5%; 5 people.)

If you can get to any decent hospital within a few hours after a bite, you'll probably live. If you're one of the unlucky 5 who cannot, then yes this pill might be a good idea.

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