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Sunday, October 02, 2005

Bitten

As people are coming back to town, we're seeing an increase in injuries sustained while they try to clean up their house and get their lives in order. Most of the injuries are twisted ankles, cuts to the hand, slip and falls, and other minor things expected to occur from cleaning debris.

The number of snakebites have also increased significantly. The piles of damp leaves and shrubbery scattered along the roadside is a great haven for snakes, apparently. So when someone goes to pick up the debris, the snake gets frightened, and bites the person cleaning up.

Thankfully, nobody still believes in making that "X" over the bite and sucking out the poison. Nowadays, people just come in with their swollen and painful hand, often with the snake in a ziplock bag. Usually the snake is crushed and mutilated beyond general recognition, but one patient brought in the snake that bit him, still alive, and still squirming around angrily.

The ER nurses didn't do to well seeing that snake.