Experts are urgently warning Australians to be careful of snakes after a beloved father died after being bitten in Queensland.
Jerromy Brookes, 47, was fatally bitten by an eastern brown snake at 3pm on Tuesday as he tried to remove it from a Townsville childcare centre.
The father-of-three suffered multiple bites to his left arm and was taken to Townsville Hospital in a critical condition, but died shortly afterwards due to cardiac arrest.
Mr Brookes has been honored for his bravery, but some people are questioning why he tried to remove the snake and at whose request. He was not a qualified snake handler or remover.
A bite from an eastern brown snake can kill an adult in less than 30 minutes and they are responsible for the highest number of snake-related deaths in the country.
Jerromy Brookes, 47, was fatally bitten by an eastern brown snake at 3pm on Tuesday as he tried to remove it from a daycare center in Townsville, Queensland.
A bite from an eastern brown snake can kill an adult in less than 30 minutes and they are responsible for the highest number of snake deaths in the country
After being bitten, but before he developed serious symptoms, Mr Brookes managed to drive home to tell his wife, with the snake still in a bag.
Townsville District Queensland Ambulance Service acting director Paula Marten said Brookes’ wife desperately tried to save his life.
She performed CPR until paramedics arrived when he fell unconscious after trying to stop the flow of the poison by bandaging his arm.
“She immediately immobilized the limb and applied compression bandages, and that’s when the symptoms emerged and that’s when his wife contacted triple-0,” she said.
University of Queensland snake researcher and biologist Bryan Fry said many bite victims do not know they are in danger until it is too late.
“They are the only snakes in the world that regularly kill people in less than 15 minutes,” says Professor Fry told the ABC.
‘Once the symptoms appear, it’s like falling off a cliff: it happens very quickly and absolutely catastrophic.’
As a result of this delay, some fail to seek immediate medical attention, but suddenly collapse or suffer a heart attack.
Clinical toxicology researcher at Newcastle University Geoff Isbister added that most brown snake deaths in the east occur outside of hospital.
The species has very small canines and some individuals don’t even have a visible bite, he said.
Other species such as the tiger snakes, taipans, death adders and black snakes cause immediate nausea, vomiting, headache and abdominal pain.
Eastern brown snakes are also extra dangerous because of how difficult it is to spot them in the wild.
A Sunshine Coast snake catcher, Dan Rumsey, said the snakes are not always brown, leading many people to mistake them for other species.
“Misidentification leads to many bites where people think they know what they are looking at, even the experts are wrong sometimes,” he told the ABC.
They are often mistaken for tiger snakes due to their similar orange colors and brand names.
Snake researcher Bryan Fry said the bite routinely kills victims within 15 minutes
Triple-0 snakebite calls are increasing in Queensland with 986 made in 2023
Queensland paramedics attended 986 snakebite-related calls in 2023, up from 846 in 2022.
Experts are looking at new ways to prevent and treat bites, but Professor Fry said there are limitations to what drugs can do.
“The antivenom for the adult brown snakes does not work against the very early babies,” he said.
Anyone who sees a snake should always avoid it unless he or she is a trained professional, but if the snake manages to bite you, it is best to remain calm.
Snakes only bite in self-defense, Professor Fry said, and the best thing to do is stay away and call a snake catcher if one needs to be removed.