If bitten by a venomous snake, survival time varies drastically, from minutes with highly potent neurotoxins (like some mambas) to hours or days for others, but immediate medical attention with antivenom offers the best chance, as untreated bites can cause organ failure, paralysis, and death within hours, while even severe cases might have time for intervention if first aid (pressure immobilization, staying still) is done right. Factors like snake type, venom amount, victim's health, and speed of treatment all dictate the timeline.
Aboriginal Australians survived snakebites through deep ecological knowledge, applying a crucial first aid technique of immediate stillness to slow venom spread, using specific bush medicines like tea tree and Native Cherry Ballart, and maintaining calm to avoid muscle movement, strategies now supported by modern science to delay venom's systemic effects until medical help arrives.
In some cases, you may not even feel the snake bite you. Symptoms of a snake bite might not appear for an hour or more. It's important to act quickly if you think a snake has bitten you or someone else. If a snake bites you or someone else don't panic, run or try to catch the snake.
First aid for snake bites
Keep the person who has been bitten still and help them to stay calm. Apply a pressure bandage (see below). Start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), if the person is unresponsive or not breathing normally. Stay with the person until the ambulance arrives.
Around 20 % of snake species are venomous, and their venom contains a complex array of toxins that can cause multi-organ damage, particularly affecting the nervous system, leading to both ischemic and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular events.
Renowned for its speed and aggression, the black mamba has one of the fastest-acting venoms among snakes. It is responsible for numerous fatalities in sub-Saharan Africa. Time to Fatality: A bite can lead to death within 20 to 30 minutes if no medical intervention occurs.
After one hour from a snake bite, symptoms can range from local pain and swelling to severe systemic effects like dizziness, nausea, muscle weakness, difficulty breathing, or even collapse, depending on the snake type; always treat it as an emergency, apply first aid (pressure bandage if possible), and call for urgent medical help (like 000 in Australia) as symptoms can be delayed.
The snake known as the "silent killer" is the Common Krait (Bungarus caeruleus), a highly venomous snake from India and South Asia, nicknamed this because its bite often causes little to no pain, delaying recognition while its potent neurotoxic venom causes paralysis, leading to respiratory failure, often as people sleep.
Many people who get bitten by copperhead snakes assume they need antivenom to treat the bite, but that's not always the case, doctors say. In fact, Dr. Michael Beuhler, NC Poison Control's medical director, says antivenom is only sometimes necessary.
Wear protective shoes and clothing
All of Australia's venomous snakes are elapids or front-fanged snakes. It isn't impossible, but their fangs are short, making it difficult for them to pierce through clothing to inject venom through the skin.
It has been well recognized for several years that animal sera, some plant and marine extracts, antibiotics from synthetic chemicals are the most potent in neutralizing snake venoms.
In 1648, physician Guilherme Piso wrote that "the severed head of the very serpent causing the bite should be applied to the wound in the form of a plaster." American cowboys in the 19th century treated snakebite with a hot branding iron, while others of that era wrapped the bitten limb in a split chicken.
Bites by venomous snakes can cause acute medical emergencies involving severe paralysis that may prevent breathing, cause bleeding disorders that can lead to fatal haemorrhage, cause irreversible kidney failure and severe local tissue destruction that can cause permanent disability and limb amputation.
The blood of a US man who deliberately injected himself with snake venom for nearly two decades has led to an "unparalleled" antivenom, say scientists. Antibodies found in Tim Friede's blood have been shown to protect against fatal doses from a wide range of species in animal tests.
The bite of the King Cobra with envenomation can be rapidly fatal (as early as 30 minutes). Please read the attached Medical Management Protocol and respond appropriately. First Aid: Bandage and Immobilize the bitten limb with crepe bandages and splint as described in the Immediate First Aid section.
Local mythology states that if you kill a cobra, its mate will come and kill you in revenge. Perhaps getting to the bottom of this famous cobra myth will reveal something about a snake Mark has never caught in the wild, a snake that delivers enough venom to kill ten men, the King cobra.
A snake's biggest enemies are a diverse group of predators, with the mongoose, honey badger, and various raptors (like eagles, secretary birds) being top contenders due to their speed, fearlessness, and specialized hunting skills; even other snakes, like kingsnakes, prey on them. These predators exploit a snake's vulnerability to swift attacks, often targeting their heads and relying on speed or natural defenses against venom to win confrontations.
Many countries in Europe and Asia keep mongoose as pets for the purpose of warding against snakes. Due to the little animal's tendency to eat other creatures, its importation into other countries has been regulated.
The venom of the black mamba is a protein of low molecular weight and as a result is able to spread rapidly within the bitten tissue. The venom is the most rapid-acting venom of any snake species and consists mainly of highly potent neurotoxins; it also contains cardiotoxins, fasciculins, and calciseptine.
The 20 min Whole Blood Clotting Test (20WBCT) is used to detect non-clotting blood in carpet viper envenoming in Africa. The 20WBCT is cheap, rapid and simple to perform with good sensitivity and specificity.
These are the venom-immune. And they don't give a cuss. In fact, numerous critters have shown a honey-badger-like moxie when it comes to weathering the effects of chemical weapons. In the mammalian realm, hedgehogs, skunks, ground squirrels, and pigs have shown resistance to venom.
Symptoms. Most snakebites happen on the arms, wrists or hands. Typical symptoms of a nonvenomous snakebite are pain, injury and scratches at the site of the bite. After a venomous snakebite, there usually is serious pain and tenderness at the site.
Don't expect to outrun one, as the snake is one of the fastest on land, and can slither at speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h).
However, only one human fatality is on record. Q: What snake KILLS THE MOST PEOPLE every year? A: It is either the Asian Cobra group (Naja sp.) and/or Saw-scaled vipers (Echis sp.)