A treatment algorithm for east African snakebites for the wilderness provider

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this research is to describe a protocol for providers in austere regions of East Africa, in the treatment of patients with snakebites. This research seeks to provide a framework for providers in this area of scarce resources and limited current data on how best to improve patient survival.
Design: A protocol was developed through literature review and examination of available resources provided to austere medical providers.
Setting: This research was developed in East Africa by U.S. providers currently in East Africa.
Subjects: This research does not describe any subjects that the developed protocol and algorithms have been used on, however the research is useful for austere U.S. and East African providers that may have a prolonged extraction time to definitive treatment.
Intervention: The interventions described in this research include the SAIMR polyvalent and SAIMR boomslang antivenoms, as well as adjunct treatments of epinephrine, and neostigmine.
Results: This research outlines an easy-to-use protocol to be utilized in a resource scarce environment with three main steps in treatment and evaluation of patients with snakebite injuries.
Conclusions: The protocol contained within this research is useful to those that do not practice medicine within a hospital in East Africa. New antivenom products are currently under evaluation for use in snake envenomizations within this region, however, they may not be readily available for years to come. This is the first described algorithm for successful treatment that can improve survivability of this life-threatening condition.