Watch out, snakes! Viper Bite: First Aid

When walking in the forest, as well as traveling and hiking, the likelihood of encounters with poisonous snakes, including the viper, increases. In principle, the bite of any snake can have quite serious consequences, since their poison very quickly affects the vital systems of the human body:

• hematopoietic;
• cardiovascular;
• nervous.
  

A viper bite, the first aid at which must certainly follow on time, is considered fatal! Therefore, it is very important to know how to help the victim and himself. We’ll talk about this.

Viper bite. First aid

Common viper

This snake is distributed throughout the south of the European part of our country, in the Altai Territory, as well as in the North-Eastern part of China. This reptile hides under the trunks of fallen trees, under stumps, in haystacks, in the voids formed between the stones. In spring, these snakes prefer constantly warmed places - trees that fell on the sunny side, piles of small branches and brushwood, slopes of ravines located in the southern part and so on.

The usual length of an ordinary viper does not exceed 50 centimeters, but there are individuals up to 80 centimeters! Its main distinguishing feature is a zigzag pattern on the back. Its color ranges from cherry red to gray. Rarely, brown and black vipers are found.

An adder never attacks a person first. She bites only when she senses danger:

• the man came very close to the snake;
• began to touch her with his hands, poke a branch at her;
• stepped on a snake randomly.

Usually, vipers are first warned by hissing. For this, they certainly have a deep bow. But if you do not leave her alone, continuing the dangerous game, then the bite will be lightning fast!

The larger the viper, the more poison it will inject into the wound. And the more pain will be at the site of the bite. So what should you do if you do get a viper bite?

1. First aid in this situation is to artificially reduce the dose of poison that the snake injected into you! Remember that viper venom is one of the fastest! Therefore, we urgently need to help the body cope with it. How to do it?
2. Immediately after the bite, it is necessary to suck it out of the wound! And this can not be done in any way to those people who have any wounds or caries in their mouths, since this poison will remain there, also poisoning the body. Be sure to spit sucked out bloody fluid.
3. If within half an hour you do not have the opportunity to contact a medical institution, then serum from a viper bite will come to the rescue (for example, "Viper"). The faster the antidote will be introduced to the victim, the naturally better!
4. On the way to the hospital, it is necessary to apply cold compresses to the bite site, as well as give the victim a plentiful drink.
   

What can not be done in case of a bite!

It used to be that an effective "antidote" from a viper bite is incisions in the skin above the bite, cauterization, and a tourniquet applied. No and no again! Today, official medicine recognizes this "antidote" as a mistake! The fact is that:

• cauterization only increases the volume of the wound, and does not fight with poison;
• incisions do not provoke heavy bleeding, since the substances in the venom of the snake quickly clot blood;
• there is no sense in the harness, since snake venom does not spread through the blood vessels, but through the lymphatic vessels!