Time to take care after 11-year-old bitten by venomous snake at Grampians property

Heidi Kane was rushed to Horsham's emergency department, and later discharged.

Heidi's father, Luke Kane, said snakes were prevalent on their Illawarra property.

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"I see snakes all the time on this property and they are always either tiger or brown snakes," Mr Kane said.

"I'm a keen cyclist and almost every time I go for a ride, I see them. There are lots of baby snakes along our driveway at the moment."

Mr Kane, who was working in his shed at the time of the incident, said his daughter felt some pain and suggested she was bitten by something.

"I looked at her leg and saw the bite marks then went straight into first aid mode," he said.

"We live on the edge of a state park about six kilometres from Stawell so the ambulance was here in 10 minutes and by then I had already taped up the wound.

"Within 45 minutes of her being bitten, we were in the Emergency Department at Horsham."

Mr Kane praised both the ambulance crew and the employees at the emergency department.

"The emergency staff and all the nurses were very attentive to both myself and Heidi from the moment we arrived," he said.

"I really appreciated that the doctors were up front, open and communicative about Heidi's condition and the bedside manner was lovely and caring for little Heidi."

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The snake had only injected a very small amount of venom so no antivenin was required.

Heidi was kept under observation before being discharged later that evening.

Mr Kane said he had often promoted to anyone visiting his property that it was more important to wear gumboots in the summer.

"I like snakes but you have to be respectful of them and wearing boots is a good safety measure," he said.

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WHCG Emergency NUM Odette Richards warned the community to be wary of snakes.

"We've already had several presentations for snake bite at ED so people need to be vigilant," she said.

Ms Richards said a pressure bandage with immobilisation was recommended first aid for a potential snake bite.

"Bandaging should start at the bite site and cover the entire limb but it is also important to ring 000 as soon as possible," she said.

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