Snake bite victims urged to seek medical help regardless of what type they think it is
Australia is home to some of the deadliest snakes in the world and with a bite not always obvious to the untrained eye, experts warn any suspicion of a puncture warrants immediate action.
A Queensland coroner is examining the public awareness of snakebite symptoms and first aid treatments after Tristian Frahm, 11, died from a snake bite at a Murgon property, three hours north of Brisbane, on November 21, 2021.
The Toowoomba Coroner's Court heard evidence earlier this week about the hours leading up to Tristian's death.
His father, Kerrod Frahm, and two other adults at the property told the court they had not found any sign of a snake bite on the child and ultimately did not seek medical treatment for the boy before he died.
Medical experts have told the inquest that the physical appearance of a snake bite was not always obvious to the untrained eye.
Forensic pathologist Christopher Day, who performed Tristian's autopsy, told the inquest "two small scratches like lesions" were at the site of the snake bite.
He said the puncture marks appeared more like scratches and could be hard to identify as a snake bite if a person was not aware it could present that way.
Mark Little, a Cairns Hospital emergency physician and toxicologist, told the inquest that a bite site was commonly "insignificant or just a mark".
"Everyone thinks you if you've bitten by a snake there will be two fang marks," he said.
In February, the Queensland Ambulance Service reported it had responded to more than 50 snake bite-related call-outs within a 10-day period.
Dr Little said more than 700 snake bite cases presented to the Cairns Hospital annually, with about five or six envenomation cases on average.
"It's exceptionally rare to have a death in Australia due to a snake bite," he said.
The inquest was told Tristian had died from hypertension brought on by envenomation from a brown snake, which led to blood pooling in his abdomen and cardiac arrest.
The director of Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital's clinical toxicology unit told the inquest that snake bite-related deaths were likely caused from early sudden collapse, which could trigger a cardiac arrest or bleeding of the brain.
Associate Professor Katherine Isoardi co-authored a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia in April that found early collapse almost always occurred within 60 minutes of the bite.
The study analysed data from the Australian Snakebite Project involving 1,256 envenomed people between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2020, across 200 hospitals in Australia.
Dr Isoardi told the inquest it was important for people to seek medical attention immediately, even if they were not sure if a snake bite had occurred.
Dr Little agreed, stating that even he sometimes had difficulty being certain whether a snake bite had occurred or not.
"Don't underestimate a snake bite. Even though it's rare, the potential complications — as we've seen in this case — are lethal and people do die from this," he said.
"I know emergency departments are [busy] but we'd much rather keep them for a night and observe them."
Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard is expected to hand down her findings within months.
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