Tragic new details emerge after man dies after being bitten by a brown snake in North Queensland
The wife of a man fatally bitten by a brown snake in North Queensland desperately tried to save his life as the venom spread through his body.
Paramedics were called to a home in Deeragun, Townsville, about 3pm on Tuesday after the man suffered multiple bites to his left arm.
The man – who was in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived – was taken to hospital in a critical condition, where he later died.
Townsville District QAS acting director Paula Marten said the man was bitten by the snake near his home but then returned to the house to tell his wife.
“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.
A North Queensland man died on Tuesday after a suspected bite from an eastern brown snake (pictured).
Ms Marten said the man’s wife ‘absolutely’ responded appropriately.
“If you are not aware of snakes, treat them all as if they were poisonous – contact triple zero and apply basic first aid measures,” she said.
A University of Melbourne study found that 23 of 35 snakebite deaths in Australia between 2000 and 2016 were caused by brown snakes.
Most people who die from snakebites in Australia are men and are bitten in the warmer months of the year, the study found.
The eastern brown snake is a medium-sized snake with a slender to moderate build and a small head.
They are known to prefer woodlands, shrublands and savannah grasslands and are common in eastern and south-eastern Australia.
Eastern brown snakes are most active in the spring and fall.