KX: Obviously, I was shocked. I pulled my hand out
and the snake literally came out of the enclosure with
it, hanging on to my thumb. I suppose it hung on for
about four or five seconds before dropping to the
ground. I took a few steps back in anger and frustra-
tion, before realising that the snake was still loose, so
then I picked it up and put it back in the enclosure. I
grabbed an elastic bandage and used the pressure
immobilisation technique, bandaging from the bite
site to my armpit. You want to bandage as far up the
limb as possible to restrict the flow of venom through
the lymphatic system.
iH: What did the bite site look like, and were you
confident it was an envenomation?
KX: I could see the two fang marks, and there was
quite a bit of blood dripping out. I was sure it was an
envenomation because it was a food bite, a grab-and-
hold-on bite.
iH: How did you feel at this point?
Day 3
KX: I stayed very calm actually. You hear so many
different stories about black snake bites – some peo-
ple who get bitten only wind up with a sore finger,
whereas some get quite sick and others have lost
appendages and limbs. I think there may even be one
reported death. I wasn’t overly worried at all, but I
knew I needed medical attention as it was a decent
2 qtr
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