On the morning of February 25, Ms. N.T. S's family said that after being rescued at Binh Thuan General Hospital in critical condition, Ms. S was transferred to Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC) for treatment.
According to her family, on the afternoon of February 24th, while cutting grass around her house in Minh Thanh village, Ham Thuan Nam commune, Lam Dong province, Ms. S (76 years old) was bitten on the hand by a snake. Through identification, the snake has characteristics similar to a scolopendre.
After being bitten, the family did not take this woman to a medical facility but gave her folk medicine. Seeing that the situation did not improve, the family continued to take her to a traditional medicine doctor specializing in treating snake bites for treatment.
At about 10 pm on the same day, the patient showed signs of worsening. The family called an ambulance to take her to Binh Thuan General Hospital for emergency treatment. Here, Ms. S was in critical condition such as vomiting blood, swollen, dark purple hands, with signs of necrosis.
Due to the lack of suitable antivenom serum, the hospital urgently transferred the patient to Cho Ray Hospital overnight for intensive treatment.
A doctor in the emergency department said that ephedra is one of the snakes with a strong venom. The venom contains enzymes that damage cells, destroy red blood cells and tissues. When bitten by a snake, the victim experiences severe swelling, edema, blisters, and hematomas in the spot.
If not given emergency care and anti-venom serum injections in time, the wound may progress to necrosis. In case of late hospitalization, patients are at risk of having to have their joints and limbs disarticulated, and more seriously, they may die.
Doctors recommend that when bitten by a snake, people need to stay calm, limit movement, bandage properly and quickly take the victim to the nearest medical facility.
Absolutely do not self-treat according to folk remedies such as applying leaves, incising, or drawing venom, because these methods are ineffective and can also cause wound infection and necrosis to spread, making the treatment process difficult.
