Hellow guys, Welcome to my website, and you are watching πππ§π§ππ‘ ππ¬ π π π¨πππ π¦π‘πππ: π π¬ EXPERIENCE (2017). and this vIdeo is uploaded by Ross McGibbon Reptile Photography at 2023-08-14T01:57:23-07:00. We are pramote this video only for entertainment and educational perpose only. So, I hop you like our website.
| Name | πππ§π§ππ‘ ππ¬ π π π¨πππ π¦π‘πππ: π π¬ EXPERIENCE (2017) |
| Video Uploader | Video From Ross McGibbon Reptile Photography |
| Upload Date | This Video Uploaded At 14-08-2023 08:57:23 |
| Video Discription | As an experienced venomous snake handler and wildlife photographer specialising in reptiles, one of the most frequent questions I get asked is, How many times have you been bitten? Up until November 2017, I've always been able to answer with, "I've been bitten by more reptiles than I can remember, but never by anything dangerously venomous". I had been lucky considering my line of work, but disaster struck in on returning from an expedition into the Great Victoria Desert, WA, in 2017 to find and photograph the Western Desert Taipan. My friend Tim and I succeeded and safely photographed our Taipan. On the way home, we stopped for a night of photography near Laverton, WA (1000km inland of Perth). As a lover of wildlife and someone who comes across way too much road kill, I'm constantly removing reptiles I find basking on warm roads. At around 6:30 pm on a hot evening, I attempted to move a juvenile Mulga snake, aka King Brown, off the road. It was a task I'd completed countless times without incident, but due to a combination of a short snake (30cm long), a hot night and less than my best catch, I was bitten on the pinky finger of my right hand. Mulga snakes possess venom that is medically significant to humans, and a severe bite can be fatal if left untreated. When I saw blood coming from a single puncture wound on my finger and increasing pain at the bite site, I applied snakebite first aid and sought immediate medical assistance. After applying bandages to my arm, my next action was to refrain from moving as much as possible to slow the spread of venom through my system. I the. laid back in the passenger seat of my car and began to relax and slow my breathing down to slow my heart rate. We were only 15min from Laverton medical centre, so we decided it was quicker for Tim to drive me rather than commit the only ambulance in town to us. If we were further from town, the best practice would be to call 000 and possibly meet the ambulance along the way or remain immobilised and let them come to us. We phoned ahead to Laverton Hospital to forewarn the medical team. In a remote town, this provided Hospital staff additional notice to re-call off-duty staff and offered more time for the medical staff to prepare for my treatment. I was admitted to Laverton Hospital around 6:50 pm with low-moderate pain in my bitten finger and hand. Shortly after, I was informed that they did not hold stock of the appropriate antivenom, nor did the nearest towns - Leonora and Kalgoorlie. Subsequently, the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) was called to handle my transport to Perth via their aircraft. After three hours in Laverton Hospital, the RFDS jet arrived, and I was prepared for transport. At this stage, the only symptom I was experiencing was local pain, and I was surprised at how well the bandage kept the venom localised to my arm. During my flight, I had plenty of time to reflect on the ordeal and my biggest takeaway from it was how lucky we are in Australia to have an organisation that will dedicate an entire jet, a highly trained doctor and two pilots to ensure we have access to life-saving medical treatment in Australia. At this point, I vowed to support the RFDS in any way I could, following their assistance. At around midnight, I reached Perth Royal Hospital, and to my surprise, I was still only showing local symptoms, although the pain in my finger had spread up to my upper arm and was at its worst (about 7/10). After blood tests and a further hour's wait, I showed no traces of venom in my blood. The doctors removed the bandage to see if my symptoms worsened enough to require antivenom. It was a strange feeling watching the doctor take off the bandage, knowing I was potentially about to feel the full effects of the venom. I remember thinking, "Here we go!". To my surprise, another hour passed, and I was not experiencing any of the expected nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, bleeding from the gums, etc., you could expect from a snakebite, and it appeared that I might come away from this experience with a minor envenoming. Five hours later, I was officially 'in the clear' and discharged from the hospital at 9:30 am with little more than a sore finger and some exhaustion. While I rested, Tim drove my car the 1000km back to Perth. By the time he arrived that evening, I had recovered enough from the ordeal, so we headed to my local pub to enjoy a meal and a celebratory not-dying beer. Iβve shared this experience is to promote awareness about snakebites in Australia. I also feel fortunate to have such amazing services like the RFDS, and I now fundraise for the RFDS through an annual fundraising calendar (link below) with 25% of the proceeds going to the RFDS and Global Snakebite Initiative. https://rmrphotography.com.au/limited-edition-2024-fundraising-calendar/ Thanks for reading/ watching. Please get behind the cause and grab a few for your loved ones this year. |
| Category | Pets & Animals |
| Tags | reptiles | wildlife | Australian wildlife | Wildlife documentaries | reptile documentaries | snake documentaries | wildlife photography | Ross McGibbon Photographer | Herp photography | reptile photography | Dangerous animals | venomous | snake handler | snake wrangler | lizards | snakes | geckos | dragons | frogs | venomous snakes | Ross McGibbon Reptile Photography |
