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, at 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.
QAS acting director of the Townsville district, 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 immobilised the limb and applied compression bandages, and then the symptoms presented and that’s when his wife has contacted triple-0,’ she said.
A North Queensland man died on Tuesday after a suspect eastern brown snake (pictured) bite
Ms Marten said the man’s wife had ‘absolutely’ responded appropriately.
‘If you’re not aware of snakes, then treat them all as if they are venomous — contact triple zero and apply the basic first aid measures,’ she said.
A study by the University of Melbourne found 23 of the 35 snake bite deaths in between 2000 and 2016 were caused by brown snakes.
Most people who die from snake bites in are male and are bitten in the warmer months of the year, the study found.
The eastern brown is a medium sized snake with a slender to moderate build and smallish head.
They are known to prefer woodlands, scrublands, and savannah grasslands and are common throughout ‘s east and southeast.
Eastern brown snakes are most active in spring and autumn.
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