A heavily pregnant woman and her unborn baby have died after a suspected snake bite in the rural town of Merrkatharra in Western Australia.
St John Ambulance officers were called to a home in Main Street on Monday night where it was reported a 27-year-old woman had been bitten while outside her home.
The ABC reports the woman alerted her family members that she had been bitten and they called emergency services. After the suspected bite, the woman began suffering from fits.
On arrival officers started CPR on the woman who was 31 weeks pregnant. She was taken to Meekatharra Hospital but died shortly after arrival.
It is understood medical staff were unable to save her unborn baby.
Her body will undergo a post-mortem examination, but it could take months to determine the exact cause of death and type of bite.
Experts speculate the woman may have been bitten by a deadly Western Brown Snake.
While it is unknown what species of snake – or if it was a snake at all – that led to her tragic death, Obstetric consultant and spokesman for the Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Dr Scott White, has suggested the woman’s pregnancy may have been a factor in her death.
He explains to the ABC that low blood pressure that many women experienced in pregnancy, may have reduced the woman’s ability to tolerate the toxic effects of snake venom.
“We know that in pregnancy women tend to run with a blood pressure that is a bit lower [than that recorded] outside of pregnancy,” Dr White said.
“Being bitten by a snake, the venom can cause further low blood pressure and if you’re running from a low baseline then you’re more likely to run into trouble.”
How to deal with a snake bite
You or someone you are with has been bitten by a snake, what happens next could save a life. This is what St John’s Ambulance advises:
• DO NOT wash venom off the skin.
• DO NOT cut the bitten area.
• DO NOT try to suck venom out of wound.
• DO NOT use a tourniquet.
• DO NOT try to catch the snake.
And then follow these 10 steps:
1. Follow DRSABCD (Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing, CPR, Defribillation).
2. Reassure the patient and ask them not to move.
3. Apply a broad crepe bandage over the bite site as soon as possible.
4. Apply a pressure bandage (heavy crepe or elasticised roller bandage) starting just above the fingers or toes of the bitten limb, and move upwards on the limb as far as can be reached (include the snake bite). Apply firmly without stopping blood supply to the limb.
5. Immobilise the bandaged limb with splints.
6. Ensure the patient does not move.
7. Write down the time of the bite and when the bandage was applied. Stay with the patient.
8. Regularly check circulation in fingers or toes.
9. Manage for shock.
10. Ensure an ambulance has been called.
