• Don’t worry; it is a medical situation that can be successfully cured at a hospital. Remember, not all the snakes are venomous!
• Only less than 5% of Indian snake species are found to cause death in human.

• Remain Calm! Do not panic if you get snakebite. Make sure that you have moved away from the snake to avoid repeated bites.
• If possible take an image of the snake in your mobile phone for identification purpose or at least try to observe the snake for identification.
• Remove the watch, ornamental jewels, from the bitten limb as it may swell soon if it is a venomous snakebite.
• Do not try to run; it may increase the blood flow and allow the venom to circulate faster into the body.
• Call for help and try to immobilize the bitten part, if absolute necessary; the bite victim may walk with a support.
• Move the patient to the hospital at the earliest. Don’t spend lot of time on getting the first aid done.
• Keep the patient calm and watch out for any signs of envenomation such as difficulty in breathing, continuous oozing of blood from the bite site, drooping eyelids(ptosis), bleeding gums, progressive swelling at the bite site, vomiting etc.
• On the arrival at hospital, brief the doctor about snakebite and the snake. If possible show the image of snake captured in your mobile.

• Do not apply first aid methods like cut and bleed, this may complicate the situation and also increase the rate of tissue damage (necrosis).
• Do not try to approach quacks for faith healing in case of snakebite.
• Also do not try lime stone therapy for bringing out the venom from the bite site (This means we are wasting the valuable time).

• Snake identification is the prime part which helps for a timely treatment. Misidentification of snake species may be life threatening to the bite victim.
• If you manage to capture a photo of the snake on a mobile, send us the image through whatsapp to 09943113773 or E.mail the image to drmaanoj@gmail.com / drmaanoj@user.org.in