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A Cure for Snake/Spider Bites
Dear Editor,
I’ve often wondered if our hospitals are equipped with the necessary anti-venom for snake bites. Apparently, they are not. A few years ago, I’ve lost a friend in Berbice who died after being bitten by a poisonous snake. He had gone to the hospital and he still died.
Since then I’ve read in our newspapers about people dying of snake bites even though they were taken to hospitals. Given the location of our country in tropical South America, every hospital and health centre should be equipped with anti-venom, especially those in rural areas where people are more likely to encounter snakes. I’m not sure how anti-venom works but I doubt whether there is one anti-venom only for every snake poison. However, I recently stumbled on a cheap solution.
Given our lack of funds, here is a low cost solution to this problem. Apparently, it has been known for some time by missionaries to tropical countries that a strong electric shock neutralizes any snake bite. For instance, a child, bitten by a venomous snake on the arm, was shocked using a stun gun. The electrodes are normally close to each other. With a bit of improvising, the electrodes were spread and attached to metal plates which were placed on either side of the arm at the site of the snake bite, and a strong shock administered. The child was able to play again in 15 minutes.
This treatment applies also to spider bites and any bite involving venomous creatures.
We (Guyanese) are excellent at improvising. The government can buy a batch of stun guns and have one of our metal shops attach metal plates on the ends. Each hospital or health centre can be equipped with two of these things. It would not take much training for medical personnel to use these to treat snake bites.
For those individuals who operate deep in the interior away from a health facility, they can improvise and use the strong current from a spark plug of an engine, be it a generator or vehicle. The shock should be administered within 30 minutes of the bite. If longer the shock should be administered at the site of the bite as well as at a point farther up the arm and closer to the heart.
If the government is not in favour pursuing this low cost solution to snake/spider bite poisoning, please publish this so that people would be aware of this solution. I understand a stun gun is an integral part of the equipment taken by missionaries on their tropical missions for this very reason.
Malcolm Alves
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