bushtuckerman said:
...maybe i heard that you shouldn't...minor detail...
No problem mate, but it is a very common mistake that people make, as is the "old" cut and suck method seen often in old western movies.
Just a note on venom, it is mostly moved through the body by the Lymphatic system and not the blood stream as is commonly thought, that is why you use the compression type bandage, you are not trying to stop the blood flow, but actualy slow down the movement of lymph so that the body can deal with it in much smaller amounts, 'coz basicly you cant completely stop the movement of venom without killing the limb, having said that if you were unlucky enough to get a strike to some where close to an artery you are going to be in alot of trouble because the lymph will be drawn into the blood stream and you cant realy cut off the flow enough, remembering you dont want to kill the limb just slow down the up take by the body..
also, the reason you dont want to wash the biten area is for two main reasons:
1/ the bitten area is swabed but your medical specialest to get the right anti venom match.
2/ snake bites are not "injecting" venom, except for some members of the Cobra family, so most venom from the strike will be on the skin, by washing the bite you can envenomate the victim even more.
Cut and suck is out because of the above reasons too, also if you happen to have a small cut or sore, you can envenomate yourself too.
Just a side note for those who are interested, the venom from a Gabon viper can be "tasted" with no ill effects, in fact it is quite sweet, because once it comes into contact with the air it starts to break down, but dont try this at home kids!! It will still kill you if you have any open wounds in or around your mouth..
Venom in and of itself is actually made up of protine, basic amino acids, some work in the human body the same as if you were to inject blood of a differant type to your own, it will form a clot and cause the blood around it to congeil because the body sees it as a foriegn body, like a virus, so it is actualy your body that kills you, others cause Necrosis, because it is designed to start breaking down the prey of the snake to aid digestion, and some are neurotoxic, as they attack the nervous system to imobilize the prey of the snake so it dosent run off and the prey will then die of suffocation..
I hope this is of use and interest to you.
Cheers... Karl