Encounters with snakes on the mountain are becoming more and more frequent and in the most unexpected places. Three quarters of snakebites occur in people who by their own decision touch snakes and are imprudent.
Venomous snakes only attack when attacked or surprised. If you live or travel in areas where there are snakes, wear clothes that cover your legs. Take a long stick to use when probing the vegetation and the snakes will be frightened and move away.
Do not step, do not sit on the ground, do not move stone slabs before checking the place. If you have noticed a snake at a distance, go around it without provoking it, and if it is very close, stay still, because it generally moves away on its own. The only species of venomous snakes in Romania are vipers, spread unevenly throughout the country, less in the center and south of Muntenia and Oltenia, but reaching the Carpathians and above the altitude of 2000 meters.
Signs of a viper bite: sharp pain, swelling (swelling) of the affected area, two small stings about one centimeter apart, semi-consciousness, other general symptoms: nausea, vomiting, visual disturbances, breathing difficulties (tachypnea ), hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), abdominal pain.
First aid measures: In the first place do not move and do not stir! Otherwise, the heartbeat rate increases, the blood circulation is accelerated and the venom penetrates faster into the circulatory stream; better sit quietly in a shady place. Report the event to the Single Emergency Service 112 and wait for the rescuers, thermally isolate the victim if they are shivering, place the victim so that you keep the bite below the level of the heart, clean the venom from the bite with alcohol, use, if you have one, a syringe to suck up the venom, place a compressive dressing (not a tourniquet) over the bite towards the heart. Hydrate yourself only with water and do not administer alcohol, coffee, energy drinks.
Do not suck the venom with your mouth, do not burn the bitten area, do not put ice on the bite and do not eat or drink alcohol. Move the victim, without him making any effort, only if you have a means of transport, a stretcher or a vehicle, and only if this provides the victim with a real advantage regarding the time in which he can reach a specialized medical unit.
Salvamont Romania urges you to be very careful and responsible when you are on the mountain, you can always be exposed to a risk factor, more or less identified, evaluated or removed.
advice given by: Salvamont Romania
