What do you do if you get bitten by a copperhead?

Question

Please tell me the exact steps, I know the hospital is a good source but what if you are miles and miles from there please help me tell me some sources of where you found the information if you have any.

Answer 1

First, I'd try to pump its stomach in an attempt to save the poor thing's life. ;-)

If you are out in the boonies, without polyvalent serum in your backpack, I'd suggest using the standard first-aid methods. A tourniquet between the bite and the heart should be tight enough to restrict the flow of lymph but not the blood. You should be able to slip a finger underneath it. The old suggestion of cross-cuts can do more damage than good. However, a longitudinal cut through each fang hole, as deep as the hole, can help you remove more venom than you could remove without it. The longitudinal cut minimizes the chance of cutting nerves and major blood vessels. I would use mechanical suction to avoid the chance of getting the venom into an ulcer or cavity. If I am working out in the field with a chance of encountering venomous snakes, I pack a kit with what I would need to treat snake bites. I do not carry antivenin.

Answer 2

Bite it back, don't take that Sh** from a snake.

Or, the serious answer, get a snakebite kit and know how to use it. If you are in an area where snakes are around you but hopsitals aren't, then you should be prepared.

Answer 3

Few if any deaths have been documented from a copperhead bite. A single bite from a copperhead

is not very dangerous. The copperhead has probably the mildest venom of any poisonous snake in the U.S. Antivenum is unnecessary in most cases of copperhead bite  

Answer 4

Snakebite kits are obsolete and virtually useless. The old ideas of crude pocket knife surgery and sucking out the venom are NOT good ideas. Copperheads have a hemotoxic venom that bonds almost instantly to blood and muscle cells. Copperheads have a relatively mild toxin in comparison to other North American vipers, so you have a little more time to get medical help.

First aid for a snake bite is fairly simple. Wrap the wound, but not tightly. The more the venom spreads, the better off you are. Keeping the venom confined to a small area will result in more cellular damage, so using a tight wrap is not a good idea. Copperhead venom does have anticoagulant properties (meaning it stops blood clotting), so dressing the wound is required to not lose too much blood. Getting to a hospital is the only smart option you have. Even if it takes a while.

Answer 5

copperhead bites are pretty serious, my friend was bit by one when we were younger and i remember it being a pretty intense situation... so i wouldn't recommend being miles and miles out in the wilderness without having a phone that works or some kind of radio communication to someone nearby...know your surroundings, maybe having a gps or map so that if you do call authorities for help, they will easily find you. not going out there alone, or maybe just don't hike out so far so you will only have to go a couple miles distance to get help.

i'm pretty sure you don't want to ignore a copperhead bite, so make sure you can get the hospital in a reasonable amount of time.