Do hospitals just like know about all snakebites or is it part of like a special doctor training or do they just have like a snake expert doctor on staff. Do they have all the anti-venoms readily available or do you need to go to a special snake hospital.
In: Biology
To add to what others have said, there are two types of antivenom. Monovalent, which is targeted against one type of venom, and polyvalent, which is effective against multiple. So, for example, I believe there is a single antivenon effective against all pit vipers. Which, IIRC, is 100+ species of snakes.
In very broad lines, doctors are trained to know enough to diagnose a problem and then study up on the specifics they might need to treat it.
Ie. all doctors can diagnose a snakebite and all doctors will understand the basics of envenomation and how that works. But if you get bitten by a snake that doesn’t even live on your continent, your doctor will likely consult with a specialist who does or study up in some other way to get at the details.
Along the same lines, anti-venoms don’t have long shelf lives so usually hospitals only stock anti-venoms for venomous animals in the region of the hospital. Ie. a European hospital won’t normally stock anti-venom for Australian brown snakes.
Hospitals are stocked with antivenom for all local snake species. Rarer snakes, or exotic ones may not be stocked in every hospital but should be available to be shipped to them when needed.
Antivenom or antivenin is expensive and can be difficult to make snd store, so it’s availability will vary depending on the size of the hospital and the region you’re in. I live in Ohio and one of my cousins got bit by a copperhead when he was a kid. Although his hospital was rural, copperheads are a known environmental danger in that area, so they had that on hand. Sometimes a bite will require more antivenom than the hospital has on hand, so they’ll need to call other places and get more in or transport the patient.
Doctors in a specific region should know how to recognize the signs and symptoms of contact with venomous wildlife, even if they’re not real familiar with treating that particular bite. They can call poison control or local wildlife experts (some parks have wildlife biologists, or Fish and Wildlife, for example) for help/information on diagnosis and treatment. So i think it’s a matter of recognition, knowing procedure, and who your area experts are.
Any hospital can provide antivenin.
If you can identify the snake they can give you the correct antivenin.
It’s ideal if you can provide a photo of the snake or take the snake with you to the hospital.
It’s often a regional thing. Hospitals will have anti-venoms in stock for the types of poisonous snakes known to be in that area.
Not all Hospitals will have anti-venom, just like not all hospitals are equipped to deal with heart surgery. The health authority will try to set it up so that there is anti-venom available within a reasonable distance of all populated areas but that’s not always practical. In some cases they will have arrangements with suppliers and facilities so that anti-venom can be sourced quickly if required, or they use a helicopter to move a patient quickly.
The specific type of snake usually has to be identified to ensure the correct anti-venom is used.
There are specialists in this field, but ER physicians will all be trained in snake bites. There’s basic training for all Doctors on the subject, and more specific training for Doctors in known danger areas.
For example since the chances of running into an Arizona snake in New York are virtually nil, New York hospitals won’t carry that particular anti-venom. But they will likely have a pathway to get some if required.
I believe people that keep certain exotic venomous snakes are also required to keep the appropriate antivenin on hand. May vary by location though.
Am doctor in Australia. All emergency department doctors are trained to manage snakebite, and we have anti venom available in the Emergency Department for all of the snakes you might encounter in our local area (two different anti venoms). Never try to catch or even identify the snake – it only puts you in more danger, and it doesn’t make a difference to your treatment.
I was recently bitten by a snake and the nurse looking after me had never done one before (his manager there has though). He was lovely and we literally went through two pages of instructions together about the process to follow. (I don’t think they would normally show the patient it was just 3am and I was bored and interested in how all worked).
We were quite sure it wasn’t venomous so more for observation. I did ask the ambulance guy though and he said the antivenom worked on the five most common snake types so IDing the snake wasn’t as important as it used to be.
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