Rattlesnake Bites: What to Do, and the Five Things Not to Do

A rattlesnake bite is a medical emergency. Go to the nearest medical facility immediately — the nearest one. Do not wait to see whether symptoms develop. Call 911 if the person is struggling to breathe, collapses, or is deteriorating.

Almost everything the average person knows about snakebite first aid is wrong, and most of it is actively harmful. The tourniquet, the ice, the cut-and-suck, the extractor kit sold for exactly this purpose — all of it makes the outcome worse rather than better.

So this page is mostly a list of things not to do, and one instruction that matters more than all of them: go now.

Do this

From the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center:

• Relax and move as little as possible. Movement increases circulation, and circulation is what distributes venom
• Remove tight clothing, shoes or jewellery from the bitten limb. Swelling can be substantial and fast, and a ring or a boot that is merely snug now can become a serious problem within the hour
• Go to the nearest medical facility immediately

That is the whole of the useful first aid. There is no home treatment for envenomation, and the treatment that exists is only available in a hospital or emergency department.

Do not do these five things

Also from Arizona Poison Control, and each of these is on the list because people do it:

Do not use ice or electricity. Neither helps. Cold causes additional tissue damage in a limb that is already in trouble.

Do not use constricting bands or suction. No tourniquets, no pressure bands. Concentrating venom in one part of a limb does not protect the rest of the body and it worsens what happens locally.

Do not use an extractor. Arizona Poison Control is direct about the commercial kits: an extractor “does not remove a significant amount of venom and the process can increase tissue damage.” You would be hurting the limb for no benefit.

Do not give alcohol or medication. Not to steady nerves, not for pain.

Do not wait to see if you get symptoms. This is the one that costs the most. A bite that has not started hurting much is not a bite that has not envenomated — it is a bite that has not envenomated yet, that you know of. The decision point is the bite, not the symptoms.

And do not try to catch the snake. Nobody needs it identified by you, and second bites happen to exactly the people who go back for the snake. If you can photograph it from a safe distance, fine. If not, that is also fine.

Where to go

The nearest medical facility — that is Arizona Poison Control’s instruction and it is the right one. Not the one you usually use, and not one of ours if something closer exists. Minutes matter more than continuity.

Our emergency rooms treat envenomation, they are open every hour of every day, and they are walk-in. But go to the nearest medical facility — if another emergency department is closer to you than either of ours, that is the right answer. Minutes matter more than continuity.

Call 911 if the person is struggling to breathe, losing consciousness, collapsing, or getting worse in front of you. Paramedics begin treatment on the way and route to a facility appropriate for the patient — which for envenomation is a real consideration, and one they are better placed to judge than a website.

And Poison Control answers at any hour on 1-800-222-1222, including while you are on the way.

While you are getting there

Keep the bitten limb still and roughly level, and keep the person as calm as the situation allows. Note the time of the bite if anybody can — the same way stroke care wants a start time, this is useful information and nobody remembers it accurately later.

Have somebody else drive. A person who has been bitten should not be the one steering.

What people worry about that is usually the lesser worry

Whether it was a “dry” bite. Some bites deliver little or no venom. You cannot tell which kind you had, and the way it is determined is by being observed somewhere that can act if it turns out not to be dry. That observation is the point of going.

Whether they overreacted. Being assessed after a snakebite and turning out to be fine is the correct outcome of a snakebite. Coming in and being told it was minor costs you an evening. The other way of being wrong cannot be undone.

If you are unsure, go — this list is not exhaustive and you are not expected to assess an envenomation yourself.

Questions people actually ask

It barely bled and it does not hurt much. Still go? Yes. Arizona Poison Control’s instruction is explicitly not to wait for symptoms.

Should I suck out the venom? No. It does not work, and it damages the wound.

Should I put a tourniquet on? No. No constricting bands and no suction.

My dog was bitten. A veterinarian, urgently, and the same not-waiting logic applies.

Can I drive myself? Have somebody else drive. If you are alone and deteriorating, call 911.

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Go to the nearest medical facility immediately, and call 911 if the person is deteriorating. Poison Control answers any hour on 1-800-222-1222. Both of our emergency rooms are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year — and if another emergency department is closer to you, that one is the right answer. Find your nearest emergency room →

Related reading: scorpion stings in Arizona · which door do you need

Sources

20. Rattlesnakes — Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center. https://azpoison.com/venom/rattlesnakes

This article is general information, not a diagnosis. It gives no doses. If you are unsure, go — this list is not exhaustive and you are not expected to assess an envenomation yourself. If it might be an emergency, treat it as one and call 911.