Sonoran Desert

Once Bitten

Rattlesnakes can be quite dangerous. People living in the Arizona desert should always take precautions to avoid getting bitten. If you see a rattlesnake, the best thing to do is get away as quickly as possible.

"Our main advice is to leave rattlesnakes alone," says Ann-Marie Krueger of the Samaritan Regional Poison Center in Phoenix. "Don't throw rocks at them, don't let your friends taunt you into picking them up. Don't try to chop their heads off with a shovel."

The advice sounds like common sense. But Krueger says more than half of all snakebites in Arizona happen when people try to handle or hurt snakes instead of leaving them alone. In 1997, an Arizona man was bitten on the tongue because he was kissing a rattlesnake!

You can also protect against snakebites by wearing sturdy leather shoes—not sandals or tennis sneakers—when hiking or camping in rattlesnake country. Never, ever stick your hands under a rock pile, inside a dead cactus, under a pile of wood, or into other places you cannot see into first. That is where the rattlers like to rest during the hot desert day.

What should you do if you do get bitten? Krueger gives the following advice:

• Do
  tell an adult, even if you are afraid that you'll get in trouble.
• Do
  get to a hospital as quickly as possible.
• Do
  try to stay calm.
• Don't
  apply a tourniquet or any other constricting band.
• Don't
  cut into the wound.
• Don't
  try to suck out the venom.
• Don't
  apply ice to the bite.

Krueger warns kids not to let adults do any of the "don'ts" to them, either. Years ago, first aid classes taught people to tie a tourniquet to the bitten limb, cut the bite, and suck out the venom. Today, snake experts know that these actions can do more harm than good. But adults who learned first aid 20-30 years ago may not know that the recommendations have changed.