{"id":1278,"date":"2020-09-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/protherics2.aazzxx.com\/insights\/why-visitors-to-national-parks-may-be-at-higher-risk-for-snake-bites-this-year\/"},"modified":"2022-11-15T11:21:23","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T11:21:23","slug":"why-visitors-to-national-parks-may-be-at-higher-risk-for-snake-bites-this-year","status":"publish","type":"insights","link":"https:\/\/serb.com\/nl\/insights\/why-visitors-to-national-parks-may-be-at-higher-risk-for-snake-bites-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Why visitors to national parks may be at higher risk for snake bites this year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week\u00a0Yosemite National Park\u00a0<\/a>reported on two hikers bit by rattlesnakes and requiring medical treatment. Just a few weeks ago, tourists gathered outside one of Yellowstone National Park\u2019s welcome centers were met with a 6-foot long rattlesnake\u00a0popping out<\/a>\u00a0of an SUV engine and unwinding itself across the entire width of the car. Fortunately, no one was hurt.<\/p>\n

Yet the incident is another reminder that snake bites are on the\u00a0rise\u00a0<\/a>this summer \u2013 for while national parks\u2019 number one priority is rightly on preventing the spread of COVID-19, several factors also puts visitors to these parks at heightened risk from snakes.<\/p>\n

For one thing, the number of rangers has\u00a0decreased\u00a0<\/a>\u2013 by 20% since 2005 \u2013 just as national parks are seeing historically high visitation numbers. And despite some closures these past few months, visitor numbers have in many cases not dropped off: at Cades Cove in Tennessee, for instance, weekend visitation in May\u00a0was 54% higher\u00a0<\/a>than the same month last year.<\/p>\n

Onsite emergency medical services are also understaffed, and, amid COVID-19, overworked; as late as July 15th, professionals at the Grand Canyon were still\u00a0awaiting\u00a0<\/a>funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to add a few additional members. Meanwhile,\u00a0proposed\u00a0<\/a>budget cuts to the National Park Service, and local shortfalls have\u00a0led\u00a0<\/a>to even less park staff.<\/p>\n

At the same time, rangers at numerous national parks\u00a0report\u00a0<\/a>that many visitors are out-of-state first-timers. To avoid crowds, these visitors may venture off the beaten path, potentially increasing their risk if they encounter a venomous snake. At Joshua Tree, a local photographer\u00a0noticed\u00a0<\/a>people pitching tents on the side of the road, and in Yellowstone, a person was injured approaching a bison.<\/p>\n

The biggest issue, however, might simply be the size and remoteness of these parks, which\u00a0cover\u00a0<\/a>84 million acres of land (the equivalent of two Floridas). Big Bend National Park, for instance, is 100 miles\u00a0away\u00a0<\/a>from the nearest hospital. And some areas within national parks are so remote that they present real challenges for transporting victims of snake bites (or other injuries) to hospitals.<\/p>\n

Writing in Outside in 2018, Kyle Dickman\u00a0describes\u00a0<\/a>a near-death experience after being bitten by a venomous snake in Yosemite. Even though emergency medical professionals arrived within an hour and got him into a helicopter, he almost didn\u2019t make it \u2013 his bite required 18 vials of antivenom, guidance from Poison Control every two hours, and nearly led to the amputation of his foot. He wasn\u2019t released from the hospital for eight days.<\/p>\n

As Dickman notes, the longer it takes to get to a hospital for antivenom, the worse the damage from envenomation. With less staff, bigger crowds, inexperienced newcomers, and the vastness of national parks, visitors need to be better prepared for snake encounters than they\u2019ve ever been before.<\/p>\n

A good place to start is our\u00a0SnakeBite911 app<\/a>, which provides life-saving tips to avoid snakes and guidance on what to do if bitten.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week\u00a0Yosemite National Park\u00a0reported on two hikers bit by rattlesnakes and requiring medical treatment. Just a few weeks ago, tourists gathered outside one of Yellowstone National Park\u2019s welcome centers were met with a 6-foot long rattlesnake\u00a0popping out\u00a0of an SUV engine and unwinding itself across the entire width of the car. Fortunately, no one was hurt. 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