Remain calm and if possible do not exert any energy, as any increase in pulse rate will increase blood flow and thus the spreading of the poison. High temperature is detrimental too as it thins your blood, so get out of the sunshine if you're in it. If you don't know what kind of snake bit you try to capture it so that it can be identified for anti-venom, if there is one. If the bite is on a limb or digit, apply a tight tourniquet immediately to stop the poison spreading. Suck the poison out of the wound and spit it out. Don't raise the limb above the height of your body. Get to a hospital as quickly as possible. If you are making a phone call to emergency services and know the type of snake that bit you tell them straight away so they can have anti-venom prepared for you or direct you to the right place, or tell paramedics which anti-venom to bring to the scene. Above all, have a nice day and be polite to strangers.

You should certainly not suck the venom out of a snake bite, for two reasons. Firstly, if the person taking such an action has a cut on or in their mouth, or a decayed tooth, the venom will enter their body. Secondly, as not infrequently happens, the venom left at the bite site can assist with identification of the snake. Snake bites can happen so quickly: victims are often unable to identify the perpetrator. I know this from experience: "It was brown," my neighbour's daughter said. Thank God for the Flying Doctor - the 10 year old lived only because the Doc was just passing over our remote town, and had supplies of multi-purpose antivenene, which our hospital ran out of that day. Interim anti-venenes are just that: once the poison is identified, the correct antidote can be administered.

Obviously common sense must prevail if you have an open wound in your mouth but many experts DO agree sucking poison is effective if done rapidly after the bite. Snake venom can not harm you if the skin is unbroken and is completely ineffective when swallowed, so no danger there. If you wait three minutes or so, it is too late to suck any poison out, no matter what. Remember there are also many reasons why even a venemous snake won't have injected any poison when biting, but always assume the worst. Inaction at this time is the most dangerous thing if there is venom inside the wound. Here's the official advice from the Brazos River Rattlesnake Ranch: POB 1655 D Weatherford, Texas 76086 snake@wf.net IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING A SNAKE BITE: 1. Try to safely and quickly identify the species of snake if practical. Move victim to safety. Have one person take firm command of the situation very early to improve the coordination and decision making processes. The victim's condition is assisted with an observation that calm and competent assistance is being firmly applied. There will be no time for shy or timid behavior! Action will be crucial! Proceed with no delay to use judgment calls on all of the below suggested techniques. 2. Remove any jewelry or tight fitting clothing. Quickly tie a light restricting band both above and below the bite area a few inches away from the puncture/bite marks. 3. Without cutting, apply strong suction, preferably within seconds of the bite directly on the main or deepest puncture/bite marks. This can be accomplished with the mouth or a commercial bite kit suction device. Time is critical here as any venom present will become destructive very quickly! 4. Rapidly apply antiseptic cleanser to the entire area and place cold compress as closely as possible without interfering with suction process. 5. Continue strong suction and alternate the location of compress to avoid injury from severe cold. 6. Check constriction bands periodically as swelling may occur and loosen as appropriate. 7. Monitor for symptoms of shock and be prepared to administer appropriate treatment. At any signs of major stress or unusual/unexplained discomfort, check for need to apply other first aid techniques - elevate bitten extremity, elevate legs from lying down position, keep warm, immobilize, etc. Do not administer alcohol or cause additional stress to victim. Avoid food or liquid intake. 8. Keep victim warm and immobilize as practical. Movement to proper treatment facility is more crucial than maintaining immobile status. Maintain above treatment functions throughout. 9. Transport safely at the earliest possible time to competent medical service. Ideally, all of the above steps can be administered concurrently with transport phase. Keep victim as comfortable as possible and reassure that survival is not in question. Rapid response reduces damage levels. 10. If possible and voluntarily chosen, administer electroshock to bite area in several one second bursts in a small circle around bite. Repeat this at 10-15 minute intervals getting slightly farther from bite area seeking to follow course of venom flow. Take care to utilize DC current at proper levels and prepare in advance to administer this technique. 11. If practical, dispatch snake and take along for any identification or testing needs. The primary purpose of this first aid is to slow down or reduce the invasion of the venom, to protect the victim from further side effect trauma, to prepare the victim for later medical procedures such that complications may be minimized, and generally to get the victim to such treatment as quickly and safely as practical. 12. Stand by for back up assistance or side task assignments like contacting relatives, protecting scene materials, providing useful information of incident facts, describe first aid administered, etc. 13. Be confident that all which could have been done was applied to assure as successful an outcome as possible given that a venomous bite is difficult to control or establish a completely accurate prognosis. Remember, early treatment is better treatment when such a bite occurs! Contact us at: Brazos River Rattlesnake Ranch POB 1655 D Weatherford, Texas 76086 snake@wf.net

I applaud the quality of Kat's research and think it is wonderful that this forum exists for sharing our knowledge. On matters such as these, where lives are concerned, we of course must rely upon the sources we locate and then use our common-sense: mine was Australian-based. Australian sites certainly do not suggest suction, as seen at: http://www.cyh.com/cyh/kids/main.html?topic_id=1535&l1=7 and also at http://www.usyd.edu.au/anaes/venom/snakebite.html#FIRSTAID I found similar advice at a numbers of sites in the USA - there are an awful lot of them! This one at http://health.allrefer.com/health/snake-bite-do-not.html says "DO NOT try to suction the venom by mouth." BUT - perhaps the advice differs because a number of our snakes, as mentioned elsewhere in answerbag, are highly venomous. I like the suggestion on Kat's suggested site that people carry a kit for this purpose. Looking at the stats, I think our Australian sites should be suggesting a similar precaution. The USA with its population of over 290 million records over 8000 poisonous snakebites a year. Australia with its 20 million records 3000. Most Australians, like most Americans, live in cities, so these are amazing numbers. I am going to buy one of those kits!

First of all do not panic. and if posible findd a shirt or rag that you can tie tightly around the area were the bite is (usually a little above it) to cut of the circulation to were it cant spread as fast through the blood stream. then take two sticks and splint it. if possible try to identify and remeber the markings of the snake that bite you so any docotors can give u the right anti venome.

In the US, the chances of the bite being fatal is less than one in a hundred, even without treatment. Stay calm, try not to exert yourself, and get to a hospital ASAP. Many people have done serious injury to themselves with tourniquets. At most, an ace bandage loosely around the affected limb is sufficient. If it requires periodic loosening, it is too tight. Identifying the snake is usually not necessary. Except for the Mojave Rattlesnake (with an extremely limited range in the southwest) and the coral snakes, all bites are treated with the same antivenin which works against all North American vipers (which account for almost all the bites).

Wait. DO NOT apply a tourniquet. Tourniquet's should be your very last option. Tourniquet's cut all the blood flow from limbs. If it's applied long enough, the limb will be die, so you'll have no choice, but to have it amputated.

you should start laughing

Die.

Suck and spit that blood right out!

Suck out the venom so you will look cool to your friends and any chicks around. Make sure they get you to a hospital though because the venom will soak through your gums and will poison you worse.

Call for emergency assistance immediately if someone has been bitten by a snake. Responding quickly in this type of emergency is crucial. While waiting for emergency assistance: * Wash the bite with soap and water. * Immobilize the bitten area and keep it lower than the heart. * Cover the area with a clean, cool compress or a moist dressing to minimize swelling and discomfort. * Monitor vital signs. If a victim is unable to reach medical care within 30 minutes, the American Red Cross recommends: * Apply a bandage, wrapped two to four inches above the bite, to help slow the venom. This should not cut off the flow of blood from a vein or artery - the band should be loose enough to slip a finger under it. * A suction device can be placed over the bite to help draw venom out of the wound without making cuts. These devices are often included in commercial snake bite kits. Most often, physicians use antivenin -- an antidote to snake venom -- to treat serious snake bites. Antivenin is derived from antibodies created in a horse's blood serum when the animal is injected with snake venom. Because antivenin is obtained from horses, snake bite victims sensitive to horse products must be carefully managed. http://www.umm.edu/non_trauma/snake.htm