[pct-l] snake bite

[pfreiman at ucsd.edu (Freiman, Paul)]

I will tell you what happened to my friend, Jim Sugg, who holds the record for the most units of anti-venom in San Diego County.

Jim was leading a group cross country down the San Diego River, a very remote spot and they were half way done with the trip.  It appears that Jim stepped on a huge rattler.  He thought it was a jumping cholla that was stabbing him and he kept walking.  The snake had a lot of time to bite him.  This was as bad as it gets.  Jim sent the fastest person to get help.  He realized that the canyon walls were too steep for a helicopter to land safely, so he kept walking.  I think it was 8 hours before he was able to get a doctors help. 

Jim lived to a ripe old age and kept leading hikes for over 10 more years.  I believe he was 80 when he died.  By the way, he only had one lung (he was very sickly before he took up hiking).  Yes, he almost died when the snake bit him, but I have personally never heard of a person dying if they can get to the hospital within 24 hours.  A snake bite destroys the red blood cells.  If you cut yourself with a snake bite kit in an attempt to draw out the venom you can bleed yourself and thereby promote the risk of going into shock.
Capt Bivy