Prompt action by alert bystanders saved a 62-year-old woman who was bitten by a venomous snake at Palode here in Kerala earlier on Monday.

S. Ambika, an MGNREGA worker, was engaged in clearing shrubs when she was bitten by a hump-nosed pit viper. Her daughter A. Nisha and a group of labourers immediately rushed her to a nearby government hospital, which administered first
aid and suggested that she be shifted to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.

The doctors at the Thiruvananthapuram hospital were surprised to find that the group had brought the hump-nosed pit viper in a plastic bag instead of killing it on the spot so that the correct antivenom could be administered.

The hump-nosed pit viper doesn’t have a polyvalent antivenom, which is available only for the spectacled cobra, common krait, Russell’s viper and the saw-scaled viper.

“It was easy for us to start supportive treatment for Ambika. The good thing was that the bystanders had carried the live snake, which made it easy for us. Ambika had inflammation in the bitten area and coagulation failure. She has developed swelling in her right index finger. She is under observation,” said a source close to the doctor treating Ambika.

Ambika’s relative S.R. Suraj told this newspaper that the labourers present at the spot were very particular about releasing the snake back into the forest.

“There are venomous and highly venomous snakes in Palode as it is near the forest. The local MGNREGA labourers are usually careful while clearing the shrubs there. The role played by the Snake Awareness, Rescue and Protection app of the Kerala forest department and the administrators behind the Snakes of Kerala Facebook group in Ambika’s speedy transfer to the hospital and the identification of the snake is commendable,” Suraj said.