You can find them perched attractively on the shelves in outdoor stores, even Walmart, but as tempting as they appear, it’s not worth your money. Commercial snake bite kits are not endorsed by the agencies of wilderness medicine, like the Wilderness Medical Society. In fact, they can cause more harm than good. Items like suction devices and scalpels are not necessary and are only for those that think they know what they are doing but really have no clue. The truth is, there is not much to add to a first aid kit for snake bite treatment.

There are many myths about how to treat a snake bite. First of all, snakebites are rare and majority result from being unnecessarily provoked. Most snake bites are "dry", meaning no venom has been injected. Venom comes in 3 flavors:

• hemotoxin: causes abnormal bleeding and blood clotting
• neurotoxin: causes muscle weakness and respiratory paralysis
• hemo-neurotoxin: A nasty mix of the two

After a bite, if no symptoms appear after an hour then it is probably a dry bite. If venom has been injected then symptoms will most likely appear within 5-15 minutes. Symptoms include burning pain, swelling, bleeding and/or bruising in other areas of the body, respiratory distress, fainting, sweating, and weakness. ​

Treatment of a snake bite in the wilderness is fairly straightforward. Keep the patient calm, no strenuous activity.  Wash out the wound with 1-2 liters of water that is clean enough to drink. Splint if it is an extremity. Try to identify the snake, this info may help medical providers select the right anti-venom. Evacuate or get/call help if symptoms begin to appear. If not, still seek medical care in a timely manner to avoid possible wound infection.

If you are alone, attempt to get help by calling 911 with your phone or alerting others on the trail. If you begin to experience symptoms and you can not contact help, then it may be best to begin to self evacuate slowly. Walk and try to stay calm. ​

Because of the various myths and outdated information, let’s highlight what not to do with snake bites. 

• Do not make an incision to drain the bite wound of venom. This will just cause unnecessary tissue damage.  So please, throw that scalpel away. 
• Do not try to suck venom from the wound, especially with your mouth. This is just disgusting and will greatly increase the chance of wound infection. It also can be a route for blood borne pathogen transmission. Commercial snakebite suction devices are not advised.  Dr. Sean Bush of Venom ER, a BBC TV series, states “I have studied the Sawyer Extractor Pump extensively and found that it does not remove enough venom to make a clinical difference. In fact, I wrote an editorial about it: "Snakebite venom suction devices don't remove venom–they just suck." You can find this editorial here. 
• Do not add meat tenderizer or anything else into or on top of the bite.  Again, this will likely increase infection and may cause further irritation.
• Do not apply a tourniquet. Cutting off blood circulation and potentially losing an extremity is not ideal or needed.
• Do not apply ice. Again, may cause further tissue damage.
• And do not burn the bite site. Sounds obvious, but you would be surprised.​

In Albuquerque, NM, a teenage boy provoked a snake in the Sandia foothills. It bit his finger. The young man wrapped a wire around his finger to act like a tourniquet, sliced open the wound, then burned the site...He reached me in the Emergency Room 20 minutes after his snake encounter. Poor kid. It was a dry bite. He did more damage than the snake! He was the cause of nearly losing a finger. 

Have any snake stories? Do you have any other snake bite questions? Leave a comment. Safe adventures from Base Medical! 
*all information is at the wilderness first aid level of practice ​

The nearly 6ft tall, purple flowered bush native to California known as Poodle-Dog Weed is a beauty. It’s blossoms provide stark and lively contrast against the char black of burned forest. In fact, that’s where it thrives, in areas wrecked by fire or flooding. But this flowering bush is not without thorns. Anything more than a glance with Poodle-dog Weed will produce a painfully itchy and blistered rash that can last up to two weeks. 

There’s nothing more irritating than an itch you can’t scratch. Unfortunately, there are no quick remedies for it. Treatment mainly involves hydrocortisone creams or calamine lotion and cool compresses for itch relief. Blisters should not be popped and refrain from damaging skin with intense over scratching. Infections can result from ruptured blisters and scratches that become open sores. If any gear or clothing comes in contact with the weed, rinse it generously with water. 

Prevention and planning ahead are your biggest friends. Know what Poodle-Dog Bush looks like: tall with long clustered leaves, blue or purple bell-like flowers, and a rather rank smell. Wear long pants and sleeves, and consider carrying an anti-itch cream in your first aid kit. Check if your hike is through any burned forest areas.  And when in doubt, treat any suspected plant as guilty until proven otherwise.

For more information about Poodle-Dog Bush visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eriodictyon_parryi 

Have you seen this plant on the trail? If so, where? Leave us a comment below.
If you want to learn more about how to be safe in the wilderness and how to handle any kind of emergency, take our online Outdoor Safety course. 

For only $35 bucks, you get lifetime access to the latest wilderness safety knowledge and the video lectures will show you all the skills needed for your next adventure. It also comes with free printouts for your wilderness first aid kit. Your knowledge may save the life of your partner.  

And if you are knowledge, like if you are a wilderness first aid, wilderness first responder, or WEMT, awesome! But do not let that knowledge get rusty. Medicine changes everyday. Stay certified. If you are having trouble finding a recert class in your area, you can recert here online: Recert Online​

Safe Adventures from Base Medical! 

Feeling cold and uncomfortable in the wilderness is something that can be avoided. Here's the science behind the ways we lose body heat outside. The more body heat we lose, the colder we get, sometimes it can lead to hypothermia. But if you are familiar with how body heat is lost, you can prevent yourself or others from getting too cold.  

Evaporation
​When water evaporates from our sweaty skin and wet clothes, heat is transferred from our bodies into the atmosphere. This is why proper layering in the outdoors is very important. Sweat soaked/wet clothes can lead to massive heat loss, even when worn with other dry layers. 

Convection
Think of convection as body heat lost by cool air movement, like the wind. Similar to blowing on hot soup to cool it down. As the air moves over your body, it carries away heat. In fact, convection is wind chill! Wearing a wind layer or hardshell jacket cuts down on heat loss by convection. 

Conduction
Conduction is heat transfer from one mass to another. When you lay on the cold ground or snow, body heat is quickly lost. Sleeping pads or other insulation between the body and ground is very important when treating someone in the wilderness. Body heat lost by conduction occurs even more rapidly in cold water.  ​

​Radiation
As our bodies burn energy, heat is given off as a by-product. This heat radiates into the outside environment. Down jackets work by trapping our radiating body heat in the tiny air pockets created by the down feathers. A major amount of heat is lost via radiation from the head. Warm hats and beanie caps are essential for heat retention.