Re: Snakebite kits

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Angela C. McGhee wrote:
> 
> >
> >Also, you have a snake bite kit listed but I was told it is better NOT
> >to cut
> >and suction.
> 
> O.K.  I'm going to make ya'll think I'm crazy, but has anybody else ever
> heard of using a stun gun on snake bites?  Outdoor Life Magazine did a
> series of articles on it several years ago, and I still have them.  The
> articles claimed that venom sort of has positive & negative charges or
> something, and that if you shocked the area with a stun gun (or even
> jumper cables) that the venom seperated to the poles or something and
> literally deactivated...no tissue damage or anything.

I'm not a toxicologist, but venom is just a protein---so, like any other
protein, it's going to have amino acid components that are going to have
negative or positive charges.  And yes, I'll just bet that a big
electrical charge is going to denature some of the protein.  But, at the
same time, if it's strong enough to denature the venom, it's also going
to denature (read cook) the surrounding protein/tissue, namely you.  I
dunno, this is just a gut reaction, but following up a snakebite with
using a stun gun on yourself sounds alot like making yourself forget
about a headache by ramming an icepick into your foot.:-O

My understanding is that unless you're very young, very old or otherwise
compromised, rattler snake venom is very, very rarely fatal.  Speaking
from experience (unfortunately), I know you sure do WISH you'd died, but
you don't.  Other countries have some creepy-crawlies that are MUCH
nastier than ours are, but I'm still not sure what my doctor would say
if I told her I'd self-treated a snakebite with a stun gun---but then,
she thinks I'm a lunatic anyway.

Susan G
I'd love to hear if anyone else has ever heard of this.