UK Student Dies From Mamba bite in SA

This section will help you get first aid treatment protocols incase of an envenomation. This includes indigenous and exotic reptiles. Please do not use this forum for photo sharing, etc.

Postby Bushviper » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:13 am

The stingrays were killed so that they could sell the spikes on their backs on e-bay. They were not Steve fans and nor were they anti sting rays. They just tried coining in at the time.

If these people were really trained first aiders they would have known that he was not in a coma, but total paralysis which is different. With mouth to mouth they could have kept his breathing going up until he reached the hospital. GROSS NEGLIGENCE.
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Postby Q Ball » Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:50 am

Any human fatality is sad. As far as the eradication of snakes go, people are ignorant.

Each snake carries up to 20 drops of venom in its fangs. As little as two drops of venom would have been enough to have killed Mr Layton.


You have got to be kidding me :roll:
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Postby armata » Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:37 pm

Souldn't these 'bush schools' or any wildlife/snake related courses be endorsed and/or accreditted by FGASA or THETA?
All the CRI courses are accreditted, and with proper protocols in place; it takes time to do this but it is necessary.

In other words BV are you saying that anyone can start up a bush school or snake handling course without any checks on the competence of those running them?
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Postby BushSnake » Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:11 pm

I get the idea anyone can start any course and it is probably up to the person taking the course to check whether it has been accredited and safe.

I feel really bad for the guy's family but am shocked. Before you learn to handle snakes you should learn what to do when you get bitten. How ignorant must you (the people presenting the course) be not to take a mamba bite seriously?
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Postby psychomike » Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:25 pm

Bush Snake, that's my point... what are those fools up too
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Postby rubida » Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:34 pm

Its very clear that these “lecturers” are not competent to work with snakes and secondly don’t know how to deal with snake bite.
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Postby Esmeralda » Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:04 pm

I had the link to the "Telegraph" story emailed to me this morning. I was astounded that - if this is the true story - people who are "trained in first aid" did not (a) put a pressure bandage on immediately (b) telephone the nearest medical centre where such a bite could be dealt and (c) carry out proper observation of the casualty. I'm St John's and Armata trained and this is the least I would have done.

How many versions are there of this story flying around? How depressing that in these days of instant worldwide communication the truth still takes a back seat to gossip and sensationalism. I'm sure I once read that there were more deaths as a result of motor accidents than snake bite in India. I say, get rid of the vehicles, not the snakes!
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Postby BushSnake » Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:03 pm

What fascinates me most is that is doesn't take a snake handling course nor a first aid course to know that a mamba bite is serious. Its plain common knowledge.
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Postby steve » Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:21 pm

geez hectic stuff. poor chap.
my sympathy goes out to his girlfriend and family. :(
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Postby snake-5 » Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:08 pm

There are different stories here, the one says he was walking in long grass when bitten, the other that he was waving his arms when trying to get the snake into a bottle or something, i cant read this CR@P anymore. I think B.V should give them a call and tell them about a thing called a brain and how to use it.
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Postby Indigo » Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:26 pm

Hey all!!

I work on a game reserve close to this 'campus', and it seem that the 'transfer story' is the real one.
Incompetence, ignorance, first-aid, and all that aside: The bottom line is that a black mamba should never have been used for an 'inter-active' lesson, nor should a novice student have EVER been allowed to handle this snake.

The fault lies with the person who was in charge, and allowed this to happen
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Postby rubida » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:56 pm

BushSnake wrote:What fascinates me most is that is doesn't take a snake handling course nor a first aid course to know that a mamba bite is serious. Its plain common knowledge.


You need to conduct these courses to teach how dangerous certain things can be, as each person’s perception may differ of how dangerous/lethal something truly can be.


Indigo wrote:and it seem that the 'transfer story' is the real one.
Incompetence, ignorance, first-aid, and all that aside: The bottom line is that a black mamba should never have been used for an 'inter-active' lesson, nor should a novice student have EVER been allowed to handle this snake
.

Bottom line is that they should not work with any venomous snake if they don’t even understand the basic behaviour of a species. If they knew something they would not have waved hands around a mamba, as its one why to guarantee to be bitten in a flash.
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Postby phish » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:12 am

I see this finally made it into the sa press:

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Afri ... 22,00.html

Bushwise state that:

"Bushwise personnel reacted immediately and called an ambulance when Nathan began showing symptoms of a snake bite."

and that

"Paramedics were called only after he began feeling ill."
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Postby WW » Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:03 pm

Hmmm... "didn't realise he'd been bitten" (news24 story), or realised he'd been bitten but didn't think he'd been envenomed (Telegraph story) - just a tiny nuance of a difference there.... I would so love to hear a clear first-hand account of the events that day....

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Postby mfezi » Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:47 am

Sequence of events for mamba bite for me

a: cr@p pants
b: grab epi and diphenhydramine (and just grab it), treat wound while en route (tourniquet, pressure wrap or what ever is in vogue at that second... WW any new news??)
c: head for hospital within the speed limit

translation
a: cr@p pants, cause any mamba bite is scary
b: have gear ready in case of anaphylaxis.. but smart enough to realize difference between venom and immune system... administer first aid and only if this does not slow down progress to hospital
c: I cant guarantee that mambas give dry bites, therefore cannot guarantee that I dont need care. Speed limit, well that seems silly, but imagine having an accident with a mamba bite victim in the car. Or worse, dying in a car accident and it is a dry bite!!

and then, hope like hell there is someone competent at the hospital, and then reassess your relationship with your maker... god/buddha/darwin....

Thats what i would do.... i would not listen to anyone that told me anything along the lines of dry bites and potential of envenomation...


Sad story, and very sad out come.

Mambas kill people, people kill mambas....

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