Don't forget your snakebite kit: Part 1

This article explained why every farmer should have a snakebite kit on hand, and how to use it correctly.

It began by explaining how venom affects different people, as well as the two main groups of venom.

Every South African farmer should have a polyvalent antivenom snakebite kit available, says a leading authority on snakebites, Dr Neil Goodwin, head of the intensive care unit at Addington Hospital in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. However, he stresses, it should be used with great care, and even then only when the victim shows symptoms of having received a venom injection.

In all snakebite cases, expert medical attention must be sought as soon as possible.

“There are many factors that dictate the approach to treating snakebite victims,” he says. About 160 species and subspecies are found in Southern Africa, of which about 70% are not venomous.

DEFENSIVE OR MEAL-GATHERING? “It has been established that venomous snakes are able to control the amount of venom injected. The venom is primarily intended to kill the snake’s food supply, and the quantity injected depends on the size of the creature destined to become the meal.