Summer hikes and backyard play mean we’re bound to see a few snakebites in the ED—and getting the first steps right makes all the difference. In the first half of this 2 part series, Medical Toxicologist Dr. Jonathan Ford joins us to walk through the key steps in caring for patients with snake envenomations. We’ll walk through what to do (and not to do) in terms of pre-hospital care, how to triage and assess patients when they arrive in the ED, and how to decide which patients need antivenom. Dr. Ford reviews dosing strategies, monitoring, and key considerations for children, elderly, and pregnant patients. And we discuss practical guidance on supportive care, from pain control to wound management. By the end of this episode, you’ll be ready to provide effective, evidence-based care for your next snakebite patient.

Have you had a patient with a serious or challenging envenomation?  How did you manage it? Share your story with us social media @empulsepodcast or connect with us on ucdavisem.com

Hosts:

Dr. Julia Magaña, Professor of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at UC Davis

Dr. Sarah Medeiros, Professor of Emergency Medicine at UC Davis

Guest:

Dr. Jonathan Ford, Professor of Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicologist at UC Davis

Resources:

Seifert SA, Armitage JO, Sanchez EE. Snake Envenomation. N Engl J Med. 2022 Jan 6;386(1):68-78. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra2105228. PMID: 34986287; PMCID: PMC9854269.

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Thank you to the UC Davis Department of Emergency Medicine for supporting this podcast and to Orlando Magaña at OM Productions for audio production services.

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