Sydney - An Australian who picked up one of the world's deadliest snakes in a Sydney suburb, thinking it was a harmless lizard, suffered a heart attack when the startled death adder bit his arm five times. The 50-year-old was in a stable condition Friday in hospital after receiving massive doses of antivenom. He had been rushed to hospital by helicopter after the Thursday night incident at a water skiing centre, an hour's drive from the centre of the city.
Snake expert Rick Shine said bites from the death adder need not be deadly if a victim gets medical care quickly. 'If you get a pressure bandage on and get yourself to hospital you've probably got a day or so before it's going to be desperately life threatening,' he told national broadcaster ABC. The metre-long triangular-headed death adder is the only snake in Australia that stands its ground when approached by humans rather than slithering away.
Snake Bite Victim Gets More Anti-venom
October 13, 2006 07:58am
Article from: AAP
A SYDNEY holidaymaker has received two doses of anti-venom following five bites from the world's second-most deadliest snake, an NRMA CareFlight spokesman said. The 50-year-old man was attacked by a death adder snake at the Del Rio water ski resort at Wisemans Ferry last night in Sydney's outer north-west.
He was bitten when he picked up the snake in the dark thinking it was a lizard. Other holidaymakers killed the snake and put it in a plastic bag so it could be positively identified by hospital staff.
The man, from Schofields in Sydney's north-west, suffered a heart attack and paralysis from the wounds but an NRMA CareFlight trauma team revived him. They worked for 30 minutes to stabilise the man before placing him on the helicopter's ventilator and flying him to Westmead hospital.
He arrived at 10.20pm (AEST) and has since received two doses of anti-venom and is expected to receive additional doses today, the spokesman said. The man has been moved from the hospital's emergency department to the intensive care unit.
