The cost of being bitten by a rattlesnake

[DonTom]

See here.

"The antivenom alone accounted for $213,278 of the total $297,461 bill,"

-Don- Gila Bend, AZ (Rattlesnakes have been seen in this RV park many times--use a flashlight if walking around in the dark here at the Sonoran RV Park).

 

[rvlifer]

Ouch. They had to use a drill

 

[zulutron]

My close encounter with a rattlesnake -- Lake Havasu 2016.

BTW, even when one of these guys is "dead", keep away from its head as you can still get bitten.

 

[DonTom]

A Mojave Rattlesnake. The best way to tell it apart from the Western Diamondback is by the extra width of the white bands just above the rattle as shown in your video at 2:30 where it shows the white bands double the width of the black bands. With the WDB, the white and black bands are very close to the same width.

These two snakes are among the most dangerous in the USA and are difficult to tell apart. And it is important to know if getting bit because of the antivenom--very different. The Mojave venom is closer to the way cobra bite works--on the nervous system. The WDB works on the respiratory system.

Nevertheless, here in this RV Park they catch them alive and relocate them farther out in the desert, they do not kill them, and neither would I.

-Don- Sonaran Desert RV Park, Gila Bend, AZ

 

[DonTom]

Ouch. They had to use a drill

Yeah, also what I was thinking, but there was probably no pain at all, the way things are done these days.

But the pain from the WDB rattlesnake venom will make just about anybody wish they were dead. It burns as it destroys tissue. While the WDB is more painful, the Mojave Rattlesnake is probably more likely to kill a person if all else is the same. The venoms are very different. The Mojave venom will paralyze a person in a few minutes.

-Don- Gila Bend, AZ

 

[Isaac-1]

My ex-mother in law was bitten by a Copperhead in her back yard when she was about 67 years old, and ended up spending nearly 5 weeks in the VA hospital recovering afterwards.

 

[Rene T]

A Mojave Rattlesnake. The best way to tell it apart from the Western Diamondback is by the extra width of the white bands just above the rattle as shown in your video at 2:30 where it shows the white bands double the width of the black bands. With the WDB, the white and black bands are very close to the same width.

These two snakes are among the most dangerous in the USA and are difficult to tell apart. And it is important to know if getting bit because of the antivenom--very different. The Mojave venom is closer to the way cobra bite works--on the nervous system. The WDB works on the respiratory system.

Nevertheless, here in this RV Park they catch them alive and relocate them farther out in the desert, they do not kill them, and neither would I.

-Don- Sonaran Desert RV Park, Gila Bend, AZ

If they are that dangerous, why not kill them. The entire species should be exterminated.

 

[DonTom]

My ex-mother in law was bitten by a Copperhead in her back yard when she was about 67 years old, and ended up spending nearly 5 weeks in the VA hospital recovering afterwards.

While copperhead bites are the most common venomous snake bites in the USA, they cause almost no deaths. IIRC, the total number of deaths is five people out of the many thousands of copperhead bites.

-Don- Gila Bend, AZ

 

[DonTom]

If they are that dangerous, why not kill them. The entire species should be exterminated.

We could say that for the human species. The most destructive animal that has ever lived on earth.

With only very rare exceptions, snakes are not dangerous if we don't try to invade their territory.

In the USA, around five people are killed from the venomous snake bite per year.

In the USA, around 50 people are killed by bees every year. Ten times the number killed by snakes. Should bees also be exterminated, IYO?

-Don- Gila Bend, AZ

 

[Oldgator73]

These two snakes are among the most dangerous in the USA and are difficult to tell apart. And it is important to know if getting bit because of the antivenom

I would posit most folks suffering snake bites cannot identify the snake.

We could say that for the human species.

Then why kill anything; ants, roaches, spiders, mosquitoes, ticks.

 

[Chef Duane]

If they are that dangerous, why not kill them. The entire species should be exterminated.

Just snakes being snakes.

One day Mr. Frog needed to swim across a wide lake. He thought about it for a bit then realized it was too far across. Just then Mr. Snake came by and offered Mr. Frog a ride to the other side. "I have to go over there anyway and you can hitch a ride on my back." "No way!" said Mr. Frog "You're a snake and will eat me!" Mr. Snake replied "I just ate and I promise I won't eat you. You'll be OK." Mr. Frog, really needing the ride agrees and gets on the snake's back. Mr. Snake takes him all the way over the lake and says "See, now you're on the other side." "Gee thanks, Mr. Snake!" Mr. Frog gets off the snake's back and take a few hops on the other side thinking what a good day it's been! Just then he feels Mr. Snake's fangs sink deep into the flesh of his back. "But Mr. Snake, you said you wouldn't eat me!!" Replies Mr. Snake "Fool. I'm a snake."

 

[rvlifer]

Then why kill anything; ants, roaches, spiders, mosquitoes, ticks.

The original comment was about exterminating the species.

Humans are notoriously bad about the impacts of what we do. Taking out an entire species could easily haxe negative consequences. For all we know that snake might be incredibly valuable. Maybe they can make some lifesaving drug only from that venom.

If i was threatened by that snake i would have no problem killing it. But i wouldnt want to take them all out

 

[zulutron]

. . . here in this RV Park they catch them alive and relocate them farther out in the desert, they do not kill them, and neither would I.

I believe there's plenty of evidence that shows removing a snake from its territory is as good as killing it.

 

[zulutron]

With only very rare exceptions, snakes are not dangerous if we don't try to invade their territory.

Right before we killed the rattlesnake on our porch we tried to ascertain with the snake if we were invading its territory. But he just kept rattling.

Actually, it was our dog who found the snake. He didn't speak snake.

 

[JudyJB]

Here is another article with more information about this case. Parents Hit with Nearly $300,000 Bill After Their 2-Year-Old Needed Antivenom for a Snake Bite

The price quoted was the pre-insurance cost. After their insurance company negotiated with the hospital, the family paid only $7,200.

The problem with articles with sensational titles like this original one is that the next family may hesitate to call 911 or go to a hospital if they fear the cost might cause them to lose their home, have to declare bankruptcy, or spend the rest of their lives in debt. And that would mean the child would likely have died.

The family received such a bill, but they were not "left with" this amount to pay, so this is misleading.

 

[DonTom]

I believe there's plenty of evidence that shows removing a snake from its territory is as good as killing it.

I would like to see that evidence. First I have heard that. Removing it from its environment will kill it, but not a simple relocation to a similar environment. In fact, there are many snakes that have lived longer in captivity than normally live in the wild. They may not be able to find their old den or whatever, but that is not normally much of an issue.

A Ball Python in the Philidipha Zoo has lived for 48 years way far from its natural territory thousands of miles away.

-Don- Gila Bend, AZ

 

[DonTom]

. After their insurance company negotiated with the hospital, the family paid only $7,200.

Yes, but how much theri insurance paid the hospital is not known by the public:

"The Pfeffers’ insurance company was able to negotiate the cost down but the final amount is not known."

So what would have happened if they didn't have any health insurance, which many do not?

-Don- Gila Bend, AZ

 

[JudyJB]

I hope their insurance has a maximum copay. But more importantly, I hope no one worries about cost when their child has a serious medical situation.

Hospitals are required to give emergency treatment if a patient has no insurance, per rules for Medicare and Medicaid but i don't know all the details other than they cannot refuse a seriously injured or sick patient.

 

[DonTom]

I would posit most folks suffering snake bites cannot identify the snake.

I know little about the antivenom. I have wondered if they mix them for the areas where the Western Diamond Back and Mojave rattlesnake share the same areas. And many places they do overlap in range such as right here in Gila Bend.

If I cannot see above the rattle, the only easy way to tell them apart without being close enough for a scale count and such, I could not guess which is which. Often the Mojavie has better-looking diamonds and has even more diamond-shaped than the DB Rattlesnake--but not always.

I wonder if those with more experience with them than I have can tell them at a glance without looking at the bands above the rattle. Neither are in the areas where I live, so I have not had to deal with either species.

-Don- Gila Bend, AZ

 

[DonTom]

Hospitals are required to give emergency treatment if a patient has no insurance, per rules for Medicare and Medicaid but i don't know all the details other than they cannot refuse a seriously injured or sick patient.

Yes, I have heard the same. But I also do not know how it works or how the hospital is paid. I doubt if the hospital does much of anything for free. They have a lot of large bills and high salaries to pay.

-Don- Gila Bend, AZ