Should you suck out that snake venom?

Every year, between 300 and 400 people are bitten by poisonous snakes in Florida. A local company makes a product it claims can help if you’re bitten. It’s called the Sawyer Extractor, manufactured by Avery Products of Safety Harbor. “You get it right over the bite, give it a minute or so to suck, and you will see venom come out,” said Sawyer’s Kurt Avery. The Extractor looks something like a large syringe. By pulling on the plunger, fluids are drawn out of the wound. It’s the best-selling snakebite kit in the world, selling at Wal-Mart and other stores for between $10 and $15. But experts at the Florida Poison Control Center don’t recommend using the device. “Our general recommendation is there is no scientific evidence that they’re effective in treating a snakebite,”

offered Joe Pittman, the center’s snakebite expert. Pittman says getting to a hospital fast for anti-venom treatment is the best thing to do. “The best two snakebite treatment items you can have are your car keys and your cell phone.” Avery says recent studies questioning the extractor’s effectiveness are flawed. He says the studies only looked at effectiveness in areas of large muscle mass like the calf, instead of on hands and feet where snakebites usually occur. “We would never sell a product that’s not beneficial,” Avery insisted. They do agree on one thing: never use one of those old-fashioned snakebite kits that has a scalpel. Never cut the wound. For more information, follow these links: http://www.poisoncentertampa.org/venomous-critters/snakes.aspx http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/Venomsnk.htm http://www.sawyerproducts.com/B6B.htm  

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Should you suck out that snake venom?

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