DEER SPRINGS: Man in critical conditions after rattlesnake bite

By SARAH GORDON - Staff Writer | Friday, August 8, 2008 8:26 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- When a snake bite victim arrived at Palomar Medical Center Wednesday night, an emergency room doctor issued an urgent order: get more antivenin.

With lights flashing, two ambulances and a sheriff's car sped from Fallbrook, Camp Pendleton and Poway with dozens of extra vials of antidote needed to treat the critically ill man.

Ordinarily, it takes about 12 vials to counter the toxic effect of snake venom. The 36-year-old landscaper needed more than three times that amount.

He remained in critical condition Thursday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

The victim's ordeal started Wednesday shortly before 6 p.m., when he felt a snake bite his hand as he cleared leaves from under a bush on a Deer Springs property, Deer Springs Fire Protection District Capt. Terry Heidmann said.

A co-worker immediately drove the man to a Deer Springs fire station. His left hand was swollen with clear puncture wounds, but otherwise he seemed fine, Heidmann said.

But en route to Palomar Medical Center, the victim's blood pressure plummeted, his breathing grew labored and his body started shaking.

"I've transported hundreds of snake bites, but I've never seen one go that bad that quick," said Heidmann, a 20-year medic and firefighter.

Palomar Medical Center always keeps 12 vials of antivenin on hand, enough to counter the toxic effects of snake venom in most people, emergency room administrator Kim Colonelli said.

But after consulting a snake bite expert, the emergency room doctor ordered additional vials from Camp Pendleton, Fallbrook Hospital and Pomerado Hospital in Poway. Ambulances and a sheriff's car rushed the antidote to Escondido, Colonelli said. The man was treated with about 40 vials of antivenin.

On Thursday, he was in the intensive care unit, breathing with the aid of a ventilator, Colonelli said.

She said the hospital sees about one snake bite case a week, but patients rarely react so severely.

Dr. Richard Clark, medical director for the San Diego division of the California Poison Control System at the UCSD Medical Center, said the center's toxicologist has reported extreme reactions to from the region's Southern Pacific rattlesnakes this year and last.

He said toxin levels in rattlesnakes may vary from year to year and season to season, with the bites typically stronger in summer, but he could not explain why the toxin levels were increasing.

Rattlesnakes do not inject venom every time they bite, but anyone bitten should call 911 or go to the nearest medical facility immediately, Clark said. Antivenin is the most effective treatment, he said.

Contact staff writer Sarah Gordon at (760) 740-3517 or sgordon@nctimes.com.