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UCI Health: What to do if you see — or are bitten — by a rattlesnake

"...Get to a hospital immediately, says Dr. Jeffrey Suchard, a UCI Health emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist.

That means your best rattlesnake-bite tools are likely already with you: your car keys and a cell phone.

“There is no intervention at the scene of a venomous snakebite that is recommended,” says Suchard.

“Your goal is to get to a hospital as soon as possible to be assessed for possible antivenom treatment.”..."

ucihealth.org/blog/2026/03/rat…

#rattlesnakes #wilderness #FirstAid

What to do if you see — or are bitten — by a rattlesnake | UCI Health | Orange County, CA

Snake encounters typically peak in spring and summer since that’s when both humans and snakes are most active in the outdoors. Your best rattlesnake-bite tools, according to Dr.
www.ucihealth.org
#firstaid #wilderness #rattlesnakes
in reply to AI6YR Ben

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Maria Langer | 📝💎🌵🛥️

@rpmik Rattlesnake bites are no joke. A friend of mine was in ICU for three days and nearly lost his hand when he was injected with venom from just one fang of a rattlesnake he had just "killed."

When I kill rattlesnakes in my yard, it's usually with a shovel or a gun (my Beretta can be loaded with 22 long shot shells), and I never pick up the dead snake with my hands. Always a long handed shovel into a bucket into a disposal area very far from my house.

@Ryan M
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JDS

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@intrepidhero @douglasvb @ak once it gets warm, I encounter rattlesnakes more often than I don't. Sometimes multiple in a day. I can't count the number I've almost stepped on trail running mornings and evenings. This one gave me quite the startle yesterday (sound on). There's venom extractor kits you can carry, haven't checked one out.
@Brian Davis @Douglas @AK

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McNadoMD

@jds @intrepidhero @douglasvb @ak hard second for that. If you get nom’d on by a rattlesnake, you want to immobilize the limb if practical, and calmly get to an Emergency Department in a timely fashion. In reality, these bites often happen on trails, so walking out to the car is a reasonable choice. Go to the ER, because you probably need blood work and may need antivenom. There is no effective field remedy unfortunately.
@Brian Davis @Douglas @JDS @AK

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Hiker Geek 🌲💻🌲

@jds @intrepidhero @douglasvb @ak
Another big +1 on no field treatment.

A lot of these kits, at least used to, include a razor, to increase access to the poison. Two wounds that make it worse & would need stitches. The suction devices bruise tissue which tends to increase blood flow and they don't actually remove any venom

Throw in when you startle a snake it is not uncommon for the snake to do a "dry" bite and that you don't need any treatment and the venom kits are just worthless

@Brian Davis @Douglas @JDS @AK
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