Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 31, 1993 TAG: 9307310035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By CAROLYN CLICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That is what Dr. Richard Surrusco remembers most about the patient who came into the emergency room suffering from not one, but two bites from a venomous snake.
The patient had seen the reptile, or at least what he thought was one, as he was driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
So he backed up to get a better look.
Then he got out of his car to make sure it wasn't a stick.
And then - Surrusco can barely contain his amazement as he recalls the incident that took place three years ago - the man reached down and picked it up.
That's when the rattlesnake exploded, striking once, and then again, as the stunned man held its writhing body.
The double blow nearly cost the man his life.
"He was on a ventilator in ICU before it was all over," said Surrusco, director of the emergency rooms at Roanoke Memorial Hospital and Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley.
Fortunately, the patient recovered. But Surrusco believes there is a lesson to be learned during this hot, humid summer from the man who was too inquisitive.
"One of the things that has amazed me in all my years of practice is that people go back to see if what they saw was really a snake," he said.
Left alone, snakes rarely seek out human beings. It is only when their nests or sleeping places are disturbed - by hikers or farmers or people working in their yards - that snakes strike.
"When a snake bites, it feels threatened," said Judy McCord, an animal technician in the Virginia Tech biology department. Both poisonous and non-poisonous snakes will bite, but the poisonous snakes will leave distinctive fang marks.
Since early July, Surrusco said, emergency room doctors at the two Carilion Health System hospitals have treated a half-dozen snake bites, more than the usual number at this point in the season.
The usual rash of summer snake bites comes later in August, "during the dog days," Surrusco said.
In mid-July, Montgomery Regional Hospital treated two snake-bite victims, including one who had positively identified the snake as a copperhead.
Surrusco said most of the patients who have sought treatment for snakebites exhibited too much curiosity for their own good.
The hot summer, coupled with a lingering drought, has lured more snakes out of the woods and into cooler places. Some have invaded houses to find shady spots under basements and eaves.
"It seems that snakes are coming into contact with humans more than usual," McCord said.
Virginia is home to four poisonous snakes, although one, the canebrake rattlesnake, is rare and found only in extreme Southeast Virginia. It is on the state's endangered species list. The three more-common venomous snakes are the northern copperhead, the timber rattlesnake and the eastern cottonmouth, the latter found only east of Richmond.
There are other snakes, such as the northern water snake, that have "nasty temperament," and sometimes strike, McCord said. But while those bites can bleed and become infected, they are not poisonous.
"The two poisonous snakes we have in this area [copperhead and rattlesnake] are called pit vipers," McCord said. That means they have heat-sensing pits on their noses to identify nearby prey. Once they strike, they can follow the wounded animal until the venom goes to work and kills or cripples the prey.
Although poisonous snakes are distinguished by fangs, triangular heads and elliptical eyes, McCord said it is difficult to correctly identify some species.
Among snake experts, there are a few offbeat ways of identifying snakes, including the cucumber test.
"If you are out in a wooded area and catch a whiff of cucumber, be cautious," McCord said. "Copperheads smell like cucumber."
Bite victims should not waste time trailing the snake to determine if it is poisonous, said Surrusco. It is best if bites are treated within an hour of the injury.
Doctors no longer recommend using tourniquets or making razor cuts around the bite area and sucking out the venom.
Instead, place cool compresses, not ice, on the affected area, make sure the bite area is not elevated above the heart and get to a doctor quickly.
Perhaps The Associated Press report this week of an Elkton man's experience demonstrates most vividly how NOT to treat poisonous snakes.
Jarrette Dean endured five bites of a rattlesnake, several to his tongue and lips, after he decided to bite off the snake's head in retaliation for the first strike.
The snake struck the first time after Dean jumped off his bicycle and tried to catch it.
by CNB