A two-year-old and a 12-year-old: two snake bite cases in two weeks
Both incidents occurred at the peak of the summer season. The 12-year-old was bitten by a viper while playing with his friends in the neighborhood, and the two-year-old was taken to the hospital with swelling in his leg. Dr. Ronen Pompe: "In the event of a bite, it is important to calm the person, immobilize the limb, and call MADA as quickly as possible."
Within just two weeks, two children who were bitten by snakes were treated at the HaEmek Medical Center. A 12-year-old boy from Nof HaGalil was bitten by a viper while playing with his friends in the neighborhood, and a two-year-old toddler from a settlement in the Jezreel Valley was taken to the hospital with significant swelling and a leg that had turned blue. In both cases, the children received life-saving treatment and their condition stabilized. Summer brings with it an increase in snake activity in living areas adjacent to homes.
The 12-year-old recounted:
"During a game with friends in the neighborhood, I opened a drawer inside the 'camp' we built. I saw something brown at the edge of the drawer, which turned out to be the snake, and it bit me quickly. I tried to keep my cool as much as I could. I saw two women nearby and said that a snake had bitten me. They told me not to move and called my mother. My father arrived after two minutes, and so did an ambulance. I tried to move as little as possible. It hurt, and the bite site swelled up immediately."
A snake catcher who arrived at the scene after the incident identified it as a viper. The boy was treated in the pediatric intensive care unit, and after his condition improved, he was transferred for further monitoring in the pediatric ward.
The boy's father asked to convey a message to the public:
"It is important to emphasize that in the event of a snake bite or suspicion of a bite, one must call for help and not move. If my son had decided to run home, which was a few minutes' walk away, the venom would have spread through his body and caused an immediate life-threatening situation."
About a week earlier, a two-year-old child from a settlement in the Jezreel Valley arrived at the HaEmek Medical Center after being bitten on the leg by a snake. The toddler was rushed to the hospital suffering from significant swelling and a leg that had turned blue. In this case, too, rapid treatment was provided, and his condition stabilized.
Dr. Ronen Pompe, a senior physician in the pediatric emergency department at the HaEmek Medical Center, explains that the risk of encountering snakes can be reduced through several simple actions:
"To avoid a bite, ensure that there are no piles of trash or objects in the yard or around the house where snakes can hide. It is important to make sure not to push your hand under stones or behind objects that you cannot see, because that is how most bites occur. In the vicinity of a person who has been bitten, it is important to calm the person, immobilize the injured limb so that the venom does not spread, and call MADA as quickly as possible to take them to the hospital, where they can be monitored and the bite can be treated."
