Worker bitten by Adder

[NicoleRussell]

from This Is Wiltshire:


I should have adder glove says bitten worker


WILDLIFE hospital voluntary worker Geoff Hedworth had to be rushed to
hospital after being bitten by an adder.

Mr Hedworth, 69, from Devizes, spent the weekend in the Great Western
Hospital where he was given anti-serum to help him recover.

He works as a volunteer with the Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital based in Newton
Tony near Tidworth.

On Friday, steel erector Andrew Horwood was upstairs at his home in Orchard
Road in Marlborough when his wife Theresa shouted upstairs that she had seen
a snake in their conservatory.

He shut all the conservatory doors then stopped a passing policeman who
advised him to ring the wildlife hospital.

"I wasn't taking any chances," father of three Mr Horwood said. "My wife has
a phobia about them and while I thought it was an adder I could not be sure.

"Because of the children I decided to close it in the conservatory and get
some help.

Mr Horwood said: "The snake had managed to slither its way in and was
climbing up a radiator when I first saw it."

Mr Hedworth, who lives in Bath Road, Devizes, arrived and identified the
16-inch long snake as an adder and he donned thick leather gloves.

Mr Hedworth, a retired systems analyst, said the snake was curled up by some
curtains.

"I tried to trap it there and got a bit tangled up with the curtains.

"I picked it up with my gloves and it lashed out very quickly and bit me
just above the gauntlet.

"It all happened so quickly I was not sure it had bitten me."

He found one puncture wound and said: "It started to swell up."

Mr Horwood phoned a doctor who advised him to take Mr Hedworth to Savernake
Hospital minor injuries unit.

At Savernake Mr Horwood was advised to take Mr Hedworth straight to the A&E
at the GWH in Swindon.

Mr Horwood said: "His arm was beginning to look horrendous, discoloured and
swelling up."

Mr Horwood added: "After seeing what an adder bite can do to a grown man I
would hate to think what it could do to a child.

"By the time I got him to the Great Western his arm was pretty much
swollen."

At the Swindon hospital Mr Hedworth was put onto a drip and after he was
violently sick was given a bed in the resuscitation unit.

He was detained for monitoring on Friday night and again on Saturday night
after being given anti-snake serum.

Mr Hedworth was allowed home at lunchtime on Sunday and praised Mr Horwood
for looking after him and getting him to hospital so quickly.

"Andrew was wonderful," said Mr Horwood on Monday morning, adding that his
arm was still swollen and discoloured and that he was feeling "a bit weak."

Mr Horwood said: "The hospital was brilliant and I could not have received
better care."

He said doctors told him they had been reluctant to give him the snake bite
serum because of possible side effects."

Mr Horwood said he had followed the advice of doctors at the hospital and
carried out a thorough check of his garden to make sure there were no more
adders present.

The BUPA website states: "The adder is the only poisonous snake in the UK.

"Adders are found in dry, open country from late February until mid October
(the rest of the time they hibernate). An adder is easily recognised by the
dark zigzag stripe down its back."

2:24pm today 11 May 2006

[VoodooChile]

idiot...oh look a venomous snake, Ill grab a glove and everything will be ok..
This is why we end up with people killing snakes on site.

[ChristopherD]

Good thing they had "anti-snake" serum... that is an interesting term...

[dhonaker]

he schould put the anti snake serum in his yard then no more snakes will come around

[louise]

but is the snake okay???

[Simon]

Apparently no one has died from an adder bite in the UK since the 70's due to availability of antivenim and steroids to combat the effects. Surprisingly, the effect of the adders venom is meant to be quite potent, but I have not heard of anyone having any serious issues after medical care.

My mum is a nurse at the A&E (like E.R) and she's had several snake nites in where they have bought the snake with them in a pillow case for identification. Some were wiggling, some weren't. I told her to give me a call if that happens again... I'll id it and make sure it's let go properly without harm.

[louise]

I'll id it and make sure it's let go properly without harm.
__________________

i am really glad you joined the site

[Simon]

Awww thanks