The treatment of snake-bite in Australia / Department of Health, Commonwealth Serum Laboratories.

Date:
1931
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The treatment of snake-bite in Australia / Department of Health, Commonwealth Serum Laboratories. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    OF AUSTRALIA. COMMONWEALTH & Always specify COMMONWEALTH Sera & Vaccines | when ordering. THE TREATMENT OF SNAKE- BITE IN AUSTRALIA. (Reprinted from The Medical Journal of Australia, 17th October, 1931.) First Aid Treatment.—First aid treatment varies with the site of the bite. If the bitten part be a limb, a ligature or ligatures should be applied within a few seconds after the bite. If the bite be upon a part where ligature is impossible, excision of a small area surrounding the fang punctures should be carried out without delay. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. Ligature.—A ligature is of value only in retarding, while it is applied, the entry of venom into the circulating blood. In the instance of bites by brown snakes (Demansia textilis), the venom of which contains a powerful and diffusible coagulant, the ligature may prevent death by checking thrombosis. The ligature should be applied immediately, for the neurotoxins of all Australian snake venoms are rapidly diffusible. The ligature should be sufficiently firmly applied to obstruct the arterial flow into the ligated part. It should be placed round a part of a limb containing only asingle bone. Ligatures round the wrist, forearm, ankle, and calf are valueless, since deeply seated vessels lying between two bones cannot be obstructed. Under these circumstances the ligated part becomes very swollen and the venom leaks steadily into the circulation while the ligature is still in position. In every case of a bite upon a limb a ligature must be applied upon eithe: the thigh or the arm above the elbow joint. The properly applied ligature gives time for local treatment to be carried out and slows down the entry of venom during the time which elapses before antivenene can be administered. C.10078.