'Can you spot the copperhead?'
Posted on 06/10/2017 5:57:33 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A devastating loss for a family in Carney after a man died from a rattlesnake bite.
Jeremy Knox, 38, was working on a bread truck he wanted to restore when he was bitten by the snake.
Initially, he didn't know what bit him. His wife, Jessica Miller-Knox, took him to a nearby hospital.
"Went to a hospital and told them it was some sort of bite, we didn't know, but that something was wrong," Jessica said. "They looked at it and sent us home."
The pain grew worse and the next day they went to Integris Baptist Medical Center where he was immediately treated for a rattlesnake bite.
"They gave him 22 vials [of anti-venom]," Jessica said. "From what I understand, they start on a low dose, and a low dose is six. They said they thought they had it under control."
But it was too late. A few days later, surrounded by friends and family, Jeremy died in his sleep.
"The last thing I said was I love him and he said, 'don't give up on me,'" Jessica said.
Now she and the four children he's leaving behind want to make sure he's remembered for his hard work and stubborn attitude. Jessica said she plans to continue to grow the business and realize his ambitions.
"My partner is gone, but his dreams are not," she said.
A memorial ride is planned for next week.
"So that he knows how much he meant to us," Jessica said.
No, I don't think you need to know what KIND, but you surely have to know it WAS a rattler.
Just "some kind of bite" don't cut it, when considering anti-venin.
I'm sure there was more to the story.
One could not ask for more.
Well, one could...and I do, but they all went down with the ship.
'Can you spot the copperhead?'
Yea. I prefer it when they use the word "squeeze".
Could have been a cobra. People are collecting them these days.
Yuck
Out here when the fire department is called to remove a rattler, they always ask what kind before they leave the station.
Excellent wrongful death suit there. How devastating. What a careless hospital.
When people say partner I assume they are gay. But in other countries they often are not.
When walking around the yard or the nearby woods, I still habitually put that little Unique in my pocket. It is old and has an aluminum frame. They have a well earned reputation for quality and it is the only one I have which doesn’t make my pants sag.
If I knew I was going to meet a rattler, I would carry a 9mm with one of the CCI shot shells. They have an aluminum case and will not function the gun but you can quickly cycle the action to eject the empty and load a regular round.
Just not as accurate as I once was thus the shot shell.
In this case and in the case of the rattlesnake bite Intravenous Vitamin C would have resolved these favorably. And without all the aftereffects.
Snake bite is a very expensive medical emergency. Each unit of anti-venom costs anywhere between $2,500 and $36,000, depending on the hospital and its location. A typical snake bite victim needs multiple units of anti-venom, along with antibiotics, surgery (to remove dead tissue), hospitalization and physical therapy, along with other treatment.
If you plan to be in the woods—or other locations where poisonous snakes are found—snake pants and boots are a very good investment.
That hospital should be sued right out of existence. That poor guy should never have died, except for the utter incompetence of that hospital staff. THEY killed him.
This is uncharitable and uncalled for, given that the poor man did nothing wrong, is dead, and leaves behind a grieving family. The man DID go to a hospital, which appears not to have treated him correctly. Are you calling him a “fool” for not having used a “cheap first aid kit” instead of going to a hospital?
Two people close to me were bitten by rattle snakes and were fortunate enough to be close to top-flight hospitals that were able to treat or airlift them to hospitals that could treat them for rattlesnake bites within the time period when their lives could be saved. Also fortunately, neither of them were allergic to anti-venom, which would have left amputation as the only option for saving their lives.
It’s a common risk in many areas of the US. Edumacation starting with youngin’s is still a good idea, as is carrying a suitable first aid kit when outside. Be Prepared. Your life depends on it.
I couldn’t spot it the first time I saw this and have trouble seeing now, now that I know where it is, but they are three-dimensional, so they are a bit easier to spot. That said, I found one amongst the boxes on the floor of my workshop. Interestingly it did rattle its tail against a box, so it kind of sounded like a rattler. I dispatched it with a pellet pistol.
I got bit by copperhead on the foot, had water shoes on and the snakes fang got caught in shoe. Bite popped, instant pain, I thought my foot got caught under stick, when I realized it was a snake I slung it with my foot about 30 yards.
Pain went away, no swelling so I watched it for a about 3 hours then went to bed. Woke up, stood up and the fire from the venom hit me and I went back down, went to hospital and they did not give anti-venom as swell was only to lower shin, they said it if was multiple joins they would do anti-venom. Doc said 1st 24 hours was bad then downhill.
Not for me, 3 days later the swelling was above knee, lower leg was bigger then my thigh, took 5 days before it started going down, 9 days before I could put pressure on foot.
Talked multiple people that know snakes, they all said they were glad I did not get anti-venom, said people can respond bad to the anti-venom, and other complications.
We’ve killed 4 copperheads so far this spring. That’s the most we’ve seen since we lived here. This week while working out in my shop, I could smell something nasty....smelled almost like something rotten or dead. I knew it was Cottonmouth. Got looking around with a flashlight. Sure enough, a stump-tailed Cottonmouth had gotten in there somehow and was coiled up in the corner. I managed to pin him down with a hoe, but not without him striking at me about 3 times and almost got me on one of those strikes. They’re aggressive as hell and frickin’ vicious to say the least . Once I finally had him pinned down good, I just pulled an ISIS on him and sliced off his head with my knife.
Copperheads are very nasty, but IMHO, a Cottonmouth is the nastiest snake there is around here. Hate em.
Hope your sister has fully recovered.
Thank you. In fact I discovered only about 20 coral snake bites are reported yearly in the US. However, that rarity combined with costs has lead to a shortage in coral snake antivenin. Pfizer stopped producing it in 2012 with nobody looking to make it on the horizon. The FDA extended the expiry date on the extant supply (what does that tell you about “discard after” dates?).
dead again
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