THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 17, 1994 TAG: 9406160177
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: 940617 LENGTH: Long
And in Arnold's case the snake he encountered over Memorial Day weekend was anything but forgiving.
{REST} ``I think I pulled in and ran over his tail,'' Arnold said. ``I got out and walked to the back of the truck, and he bit me. I knew right away what had happened. He must've hit me sideways, with only one fang.''
The angry snake struck at 11:30 p.m. May 29 at Arnold's parents' summer home in Munden Point, a rural area of Virginia Beach near the North Carolina line. His family has owned the home across from the North Landing River most of his life.
Arnold, 27, was familiar with snakes from spending time in the area, but not as painfully aware as he became that night.
In was an education for not only Arnold and his friends but for the medical folks who treated him. Poisonous snakebites aren't all that common in this area and so few people know how to deal with them. And, as Arnold discovered, many of the things he had thought he was supposed to do about the bite turned out to be wrong.
Arnold was taken to Virginia Beach General Hospital, where he remained until the following Saturday morning. His left leg remained swollen and discolored six days after the poisonous bite. The leg was blue and yellow from the foot to the knee, and the skin of his foot had started to blister. Doctors ordered him to stay off it for a few weeks.
``I'd pulled up (to the boat ramp across the street) to see if my boat was OK, and I pinned just enough of his tail under my wheel to trap him,'' Arnold explained. ``After he struck, I looked down, and he was wiggling all around and striking at everything, my truck tire and all. I freaked. My foot was bleeding, and I was running around.''
Arnold's wife, Sharon, called 911 immediately. He went home, found a shotgun, killed the snake and chopped off its head with a shovel. The water moccasin measured 3 1/2 to 4 feet and was about 2 inches in diameter.
The Creeds Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Squad arrived within 15 minutes and started administering first aid. The Memorial Day weekend guests at the Arnold summer home had various recommendations.
``They worked on me and helped a lot,'' he said. ``Everyone at the house was telling me something different. Put on a tourniquet, cut an `X' and suck out the venom.''
None of that was the correct treatment, they discovered later.
The ambulance took Arnold to the hospital while the effects of the highly toxic venom intensified during the ride.
``I was sick on my stomach,'' Arnold said. ``The pain in my foot was terrible.'' The snakebite left a pinpoint-sized hole in the top of Arnold's left foot, halfway between the ankle and toes.
Doctors administered antibiotics to quell infection from the bite but didn't use a snakebite antidote. They told Arnold that the medicine caused a worse reaction than the wound sometimes. They also told him that his age and size (about 270 pounds of solid muscle from construction work) worked in his favor.
Even so, the recovery was torturous.
``I couldn't eat for three days. I chewed ice and vomited,'' Arnold said.
Doctors called upon the region's snakebite expert, Dr. Sterling Williamson, to help them with the treatment.
Williamson didn't set out to become an expert in herpetology, the branch of zoology dealing with reptiles. Yet, after treating more than 150 cases of snakebite during 23 years of practice as an orthopedic surgeon, Williamson has developed an expertise since most bites occur on an arm or leg.
``The fear of snakebite exceeds the actual danger,'' he added. ``In Virginia, there have been four deaths from snakebite since 1947. There are reportedly 8,500 bites in the country each year, and less than 12 deaths from them.''
However, there is not only the ``mortality issue, but a morbidity issue'' with snakebites.
For example, Williamson said snakebite can cause ``local necrosis,'' the death or decay of tissue from loss of blood in the affected area. Victims will suffer pain, discomfort and sickness, and will likely experience fatigue for three months or so.
In severe cases, systemic damage, evidenced by symptoms such as blood in the urine, can occur. In those extreme cases, Williamson said he would prescribe anti-venom, but seldom uses it otherwise.
Williamson said car keys are a person's best tool for dealing with bites. Driving to a hospital or doctor's office is the best thing a victim can do.
Arnold would agree.
He returned to work Monday, two weeks after his bite.
by CNB