Sawyer Products Venom Extractor & Suction Pump Kit for Snake Bite, & Bee, Wasp, and Mosquito Stings
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I was bitten by a copperhead and didn't have my kit with me when I was bitten. I was in a remote location, a long way from the nearest hospital. If I had the Extractor with me, I would have used it immediately. If you cut yourself, you'll almost certainly end up with a much bigger problem. The truth is that a pit viper bite (copperheads, rattlers, and moccasins) may not cause much of a reaction. Their venom may be depleted, or they may simply not release much or any venom into the wound. My ankle swelled up around the bite and turned black after the bite, but I had no other reactions. In any case, being bitten is terrifying, and if it happens again, I'll be sure to use the Extractor right away. It works wonders on stings, and I use it all the time.
Actually, keeping the stinger in will allow the vacuum to suction the venom out through the stinger. The stinger will not be pulled out by the device. Then use tweezers to remove the stinger. br>I've done this a few times and it's helped keep my toxin reaction to a bare minimum. The venom from the stinger can be seen leaking back out. The most important thing is to use the device as soon as possible after being bitten or stung. We frequently use them on centipede bites, and they save you from the agony of that painful venom!br>I keep mine in my car so that I always have it on hand.br>We use them on centipede bites, and they save you from the agony of that painful venom!
I'm not sure what kind of spider bit me because I didn't see it, but we have some black widows that travel between my and our neighbors' fences, so I'm hoping it works for them as well. It appeared to be effective in extracting information. We have a dog who has large scars from a spider bite he received several years ago, and after a summer filled with snakes, I decided to get this and keep it on hand to try on anything that might help. So I'm not sure what the answer is, but I'm hoping it's the right one!
It has a strong suction. It is more effective against snake bites than previous designs. It works well on stings from bees and wasps, and it should also work on scorpion stings.
Selected User Reviews For Sawyer Products Venom Extractor & Suction Pump Kit for Snake Bite, & Bee, Wasp, and Mosquito Stings
Hello,br>br>My name is Jordan Benjamin, and I am a herpetologist specializing in venomous snakes and a wilderness medicine practitioner with experience treating many snakebite patients in West and East Africa, the majority of them in remote health centers that present some of the same challenges as treating a snakebite in the wilderness or backcountry environment in the United States (supplies are limited or non-existent). existent, the patient must travel a considerable distance to reach a hospital, and so on). I've also had the good fortune of being able to train a variety of people and groups in snakebite medicine and field management of snake envenomations in remote locations, including US military medical officers and corpsmen, local residents, and others. I'm including my background and real name because this is a personal issue for me, and I stand by everything I'm about to say; I want to give you all the peace of mind that I am who I say I am, and not some competing company making baseless accusations behind the cloak of online anonymity. Please look me up on the internet; I gave a TEDx talk on the issue of snakebite in sub-Saharan Africa. Last year, I visited Sub-Saharan Africa, and I encourage anyone who doubts my identity or simply wants to learn more about the issue of snakebite in developing countries to do so. Now it's time to look over the results. br>br>The short answer to whether the Sawyer Extractor can effectively remove venom from the bite site is a resounding no: the Sawyer Extractor, as well as all other "snakebite kit" variations employing suction, incisions, electricity, heat, cold, and other methods, has been repeatedly shown to be utterly ineffective at the job they are designed and marketed to accomplish. They are completely ineffective! The caveat is that there is one clever application of the sawyer that has been proven to work exceptionally well, and that is for the removal of flesh-eating bacteria. Botfly larvae can be found in various tropical regions around the world and are eaten. [Simple and effective field extraction of the human botfly, Dermatobia hominis, using a venom extractor] I'm afraid to say that for the time being, that is the only medical situation in which this device might be useful. When it comes to snakebites, it's not only ineffective at removing venom from tissue after a bite, but it could also be harmful and cause a serious local necrosis (think of it like a cookie-cutter necrosis). Under the application site, a deep cylinder of rotting dead tissue is formed by a cutter-style wound). This could be due to a concentration of cytotoxic and myotoxic venoms near the bite site, while the majority of the venom diffuses into systemic circulation - However, since we don't know why this happens, it's all speculation at this point. For those who are interested, the article that demonstrates this is titled: "Effects of a negative pressure venom extraction device (Extractor) on local tissue injury in a porcine model following artificial rattlesnake envenomation. " I've included a link to the article below: ]br>There are likely a number of reasons why this type of first aid is ineffective. One problem is that vipers' recurved fangs penetrate and inject venom deep into the tissues beneath the skin, and the tunnel formed when a fang penetrates the skin collapses as soon as the fang is removed. Another problem is that large amounts of venom are thought to diffuse quickly into various tissue compartments. This means that there is no direct path from the visible puncture marks on the surface to the area where the venom was injected, and a large amount of venom has already been injected. I've read the company's testimonials and seen news stories about snakebite victims "whose lives were saved by the Sawyer Extractor" or a similar device, and all too often, that quote is attributed to the physician who treated them. The sawyer extractor is popular because it provides us with an intuitively sound solution to the terrifying prospect of suffering a snakebite far from medical care, suddenly rendered utterly helpless as the venom takes effect and all we (or our loved ones) can do is wait an hour. I don't doubt the veracity of the quote, as deeply entrenched myths and misinformation about snakes and snakebite are unfortunately as common in doctors as they are in the rest of society at this time. It's just a modern version of the infamous "black stone" from Asia and Africa, which is a charred piece of cow bone that is stuck to the site of the snakebite and remains there absorbing fluid until all the venom has been drawn out of the bite, at which point it detaches and falls to the ground, where it is boiled or washed in milk to remove the venom, and is ready to go when the next snakebite occurs. By visibly extracting some blood and straw, they both create the perfect optical illusion. colored fluid from the bite site (which looks eerily similar to many viper venoms), but it's just the pale-colored blood. As edema sets in and the venom takes effect, yellow plasma (what's left after you remove the red cells and clotting components from blood) and other exudate drain from the wound. If you feel duped, don't take it personally - Since at least the 1400s, when the black stone was first mentioned as the go-to remedy for snakebites, the notion that a snakebite can be treated by extracting the venom has successfully deceived us. Snake envenomation can be treated with this remedy. A close colleague of mine met a European surgeon on a medical mission in Central Africa a few years ago and told him that he didn't have to worry about snakebite because he always carried a black stone with him. As you can see, even the most highly educated medical professionals are susceptible to snakebite myths. I grew up carrying a sawyer extractor with me whenever I went out looking for snakes and lizards, and no one would be happier to hear that the sawyer extractor did what it claimed than those of us who work with snakes and face a snakebite rate many times higher than the general population. However, these devices are ineffective against snakebites, and marketing them for that purpose is a risky move with potentially fatal consequences. Evidence- They are at best ineffective and at worst harmful, according to evidence-based medicine and all studies to date. If you want to see more proof of this, look at the following: "Snakebite Suction Devices Don't Remove Venom:" br>br>"Snakebite Suction Devices Don't Remove Venom:" br>br>"Snakebite Suction Devices Don' They're just a bunch of jerks" [. ]br> andbr>br>Suction for Venomous Snakebite: A Human Model Study of 'Mock Venom' Extraction" This product has no business being marketed for use on snakebite. Of more than 40 snakebite patients I have treated in Africa, 95% of them had already been given bad first aid Cutting at or near the bite site, applying tourniquets to the bitten limb, and attempting to extract or neutralize venom with electricity, fire, permanganate, black stones, magic, mouths, mud, dung, leaves, ground up dried snakes, and - yes - venom. even more opulent suction devices, such as the Sawyer Extractor - For two reasons, they're dangerous and harmful. First, time is tissue in a snakebite, and a lot of it is wasted performing poor first aid. Many snakebite patients injure themselves by panicking right after the bite; I've seen more than a few people who have suffered serious traumatic injuries in addition to the snakebite because they took off running from the snake at full speed only to suddenly fall face-first. first onto a ledge, or trip and fall off the edge of a steep embankment. The second issue is that signs of envenomation can take hours to appear, and the combination of seeing a useless suction device drawing fluid out of the bite combined with a delayed onset of symptoms is an easy way to decide that you don't need medical attention after all because you used the extractor less than a minute after the bite and saw it remove the venom, or you feel fine and don't want to inconvenience the whole group because you've all been planning this for weeks. Young men between the ages of 18 and 30 are the most common victims of venomous snake bites in the United States. 25 people who are inebriated (usually from alcohol) and trying to pick up, kill, or otherwise interact with a potentially lethal snake. This is a group that is especially prone to erroneously deciding whether to laugh it off because they are fine or seek medical attention for a life-threatening situation. I've had patients show up right after a bite and others show up after a long wait, and I've noticed two things. The first is that those who arrive early frequently do so because they are suffering from a severe envenomation and will become very ill very quickly, whereas those who arrive late frequently did so because they falsely believed that the first aid measures taken were adequate or that they were not seriously envenomated. The second observation is that because the venom has been allowed to work unchecked for so long, many of the patients who wait come in when they finally reach their own line in the sand for what constitutes a serious enough problem to go to the hospital, they often have more complications, longer hospitalizations, and a higher chance that the bite will result in permanent disability. They frequently present in critical condition with severe envenomations, just like the group of severely envenomated patients who present with the shortest delay to care, but instead of presenting in a critical state of hemorrhagic or hypovolemic shock, they present in shock with their kidneys failing, or with late-stage kidney failure. bleeding into the brain, meninges, and abdominal cavity, which will exacerbate all of the other symptoms Late- Stage complications can be extremely difficult to treat; they are excruciatingly painful for patients, heart-wrenching cases for medical personnel, and they are completely avoidable with prompt treatment. If you are bitten by a venomous snake or are unsure whether the snake is venomous, please, please, please concentrate on getting yourself to emergency medical care safely and don't put your life in the hands of one of these commercial snakebite kits. The only effective and long-lasting treatment for snake envenomation is the use of the appropriate antivenom to neutralize the venom of the snake species that bit you. I repeat: THE APPROPRIATE ANTIVENOM IS THE ONLY EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR SNAKE ENVENOMATION. Rep this five times before moving on to some practical advice on what to do if you get bitten by a snake in the middle of nowhere. br>br>To wrap up this lengthy review on a positive note, there are a few things I would recommend you do after being bitten by a snake. 1. br>br> Avoid stepping on any other snakes nearby by walking, not running, and carefully retracing your steps to get out of the snake's immediate vicinity. The snake, like you, wants to get away as much as you do, so 20 or 30 feet should suffice. 2. br>br>1. br>br>br>br>br>br Look for a comfortable spot to sit. This is critical! Viper venoms, in particular, contain vasodilating compounds that open up your blood vessels to allow for rapid venom diffusion into systemic circulation. This means you could suddenly become dizzy and faint because your blood pressure has dropped too low to pump all the way to your head while standing upright. This is fairly common with viper bites, and it usually happens within the first few minutes, so sit down to avoid passing out while running and hitting your head on a rock. You'd be surprised, as I mentioned. It happens all the time; these are usually brief fainting spells, and you have a good chance of avoiding them entirely by not standing up in a state of utter terror; however, if you do faint, it should only take a few minutes for you to regain consciousness, and on the bright side, you just nailed the whole relaxation part of step 3 and are now somewhat ahead of the game. However, now that you're awake, you should go over step 3 again. 3. br>br>4. br>br>5. br>br>6. Remove any rings, watches, bangles, anklets, tight clothing, and anything else from the bitten limb because it's likely to get a lot bigger than it was when you bought that toe ring. . . Do this because any of these items could become a tourniquet if swelling makes them impossible to remove, and that could cost you the limb below whatever is choking off the supply of oxygenated blood. Tourniquets of any kind are bad for snakebite, so don't try to tie your shoelaces, belt, or anything else above the area where you were bitten. There are somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 of them. Every year, 10,000 people are envenomated by snakes in the United States, but the majority will not suffer any long-term disability, and only 5 people will die (mostly the elderly, the very young, the highly allergic, and other high-risk individuals). populations at risk). Your chances are good, so be thankful you live in the United States and don't make yourself a (bad) statistic by doing something stupid that makes your situation even worse. 4. br>br> Now that you're seated, take at least 5 minutes to relax and focus your mind on something productive: preparing for your evacuation It's time to get out the two items that I highly recommend for a snakebite kit to help you save your own hide: first, a snakebite kit. Do you have access to a mobile device? Is it possible to use it in this location? If that's not the case, when was the last time it was connected? Because the only effective treatment for a snake envenomation is the right antivenom to neutralize it, having a working cell phone is your best means of communicating with emergency personnel, who will do everything possible to get you safely out of the field and into the best medical facility for your situation. If you can call right away, those 5 minutes you took to calm down will be useful in relaying important information like who you are, where you are, what happened, how you are feeling, and any other coexisting medical conditions or medications you are currently taking. If you're on any anticoagulants (blood thinners), please let them know right away, and please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please AFTER A SNAKEBITE, DO NOT USE ASPIRIN, ADVIL, OR ANY OTHER NSAIDS. All of these medications thin the blood, which can lead to serious complications in snakebite victims. Tylenol (acetaminophen) is acceptable; take up to two 500mg tablets if necessary; it will not interact with the snakebite in any way; however, make sure to tell the medics everything you've taken when they arrive to avoid being double-diagnosed. dosed. br>br>The second thing I can't recommend enough for snakebites is. drumroll. a Sharpie, to be exact! If you've been seriously envenomated, your top priority right now is to get to the antivenom and start the IV so it can work. From a clinical standpoint, there are a few things you can keep track of now that will be extremely helpful when you arrive at the hospital and we assess the severity of your snakebite to determine if you need antivenom, how much you need right now if you do, and what other effects the venom is causing so we can treat them with the other drugs we have on hand and make your stay a little more comfortable. This is how it works in practice. You'll examine yourself from head to toe and keep track of any significant findings on your person as well as the time you spent doing so. Notes can get misplaced during an evacuation or rescue, but your leg is going to the hospital with you whether you like it or not, so mark it up! The first step is to use the sharpie to draw a circle around the snakebite site and record the time. Draw a circle around the swelling's edge, or if the bite is on a finger or toe, a line along the swelling's edge as it moves up the limb, and once more: Next to or within the circle you just drew, write down the time and all of the things you're experiencing right now that aren't normal for you - Simply make it clear when you're writing them. Go over your five senses and write down anything that doesn't seem right, making sure to include: There may be metallic taste in your mouth, changes in your sense of smell, two-stage loss of vision, ringing in the ears, headaches, nausea, vomiting, bleeding out of sight, nausea, tremors or cramping or twitching, numbness that affects just the foot. br>br>Not only do you get to take a break for arts and crafts right after your snakebite, but you're also creating a timeline charting the progression of signs and symptoms as they appear, giving us the critical information we need to figure out how serious of a bite you're dealing with and what steps need to be taken to stay on top of a developing situation. In all seriousness, the importance of doing so cannot be overstated, and you should do so every 15 to 30 minutes as the swelling moves up the limb and your symptoms change. Another benefit is that it gives you something to focus on that will help you stay calm and get things done, and having a task really does help you stay calm and get things done. Stay calm and put on your thinking cap because the first few minutes will determine the outcome of the entire situation. 5. br>br> If you are able to contact someone via cell phone, calm down and carefully assess/document what you find; if you are unable to contact anyone, carefully consider where you are, how you arrived, and what options you have to either help yourself or get help to you. I've seen patients who walked miles out of the bush after serious snake bites to their legs; they didn't die from overexertion, as many people fear, and they all recovered because they got to medical help. If you can't reach anyone and no one knows you need help, it's much better to slowly walk out the same way you came in. I'm not suggesting you skip or do high kicks the entire way out (I believe it would be too painful), but I am suggesting you plan the simplest, most well-organized route possible. Take stock of your supplies and get some food and water in you so you don't pass out on the way from something preventable like dehydration, keep an eye on your footing, and move slowly and steadily to your target destination. br>br>Keep in mind that the fundamentals are fairly straightforward. Stay calm or get calm, find a safe place to gather your belongings and check your resources, remove constricting bands, document the envenomation, hydrate and nourish, contact help, or make a careful plan to contact help in some way and get the word out that you require medical assistance. Don't let your fear of "raising your heart rate and increasing the speed of venom circulation" keep you from getting medical help. Whether you sit still for 24 hours or use a suction device like the Sawyer, the venom will get out into circulation, based on what I've seen. You might be able to stop the venom from getting into circulation by using a tourniquet, but this would be a huge mistake because you risk losing your limb. Unless you're in one of the high-risk groups, don't use a tourniquet. Following prompt and appropriate hospital treatment for the risk categories discussed earlier, there is a very good chance that you will fully recover. Remember, when it comes to snakebite, no first aid is far superior to poor first aid in the long run! Tell the boy scout to put his pocketknife away, don't tourniquet your own limb, and don't listen to the weirdo on the trail who enthusiastically offers to suck the venom out with his mouth or pee into the wound because it saved his friend all those years ago. . . And if you have a sawyer extractor or any of the other varieties, just remember that when it comes to snakebite, they really do suck. Show it to someone else and spread the word that devices like this are more likely to cost you your life or limb than to save it, because the people who make them have so far refused to stop making claims about them that researchers have repeatedly debunked. Don't throw it away, because if you get a botfly larva under your skin while vacationing in the tropics, you'll be able to wow your friends with the world's most shocking entomological party trick when you whip out the sawyer botfly extractor and expertly suck out a wriggling maggot from the painful red bump on your backside where it currently resides. Congratulations on making it this far, and thank you for taking the time to listen.
in a good way, of course! This is the second one I bought. When used promptly, it works wonders for bites and stings. It has a lot of suction power. Chrome is what I'm referring to. off- trailer- golf, hitch- ball- through- garden- suction like a hose! Except for the personality disorder and the smart mouth, she reminds me of my ex-girlfriend. Whatever the case may be, it's a good investment.
I purchased this a few weeks ago because our daughter attracts mosquitos. Until today, when I was stung by a bee, I had never needed to use it. I had the pump attached in less than 60 seconds. The venom was visible coming out of my arm 30 seconds later (see photo). After 90 seconds, I removed the pump and wiped away the pain with the wipe they provided. I haven't felt anything for the past ten minutes. So, how long are you going to be waiting? Just go ahead and purchase it. To the letter of the law.
This technique can be used for a variety of purposes. It does, in fact, remove the venom from all types of bites. Last summer was a nightmare because of mosquito bites, but this summer is so much better! When we are bitten, we clean the area with alcohol, then suction for 90 seconds with this tool, and then wipe with alcohol again. We could also use an essential oil blend (anti-bacterial) to rub on our skin. itch). It actually works! After tick removal, this appears to have removed the venom from ticks. It has drawn out embedded splinters without the need for excessive digging with a needle (much to my son's delight). It'll save your life. We keep one in places where we might be bitten, ticked, or splintered in the future.
After having multiple R hand surgeries to repair a torn tendon, my OT recommended that I use this on the scar tissue that developed after the wound healed. The suction aids in the breakdown of scar tissue. I suppose if I ever come across a rattle snake in my yard, I'll use it for the same purpose.
We bought this for the camp and have yet to use it for its intended purpose, but after fighting with a child for 10 minutes to get a splinter out of his foot, I decided to give it a try. The splinter was pulled out far enough with tweezers after about four suckings. Everyone was blown away!.
For the past ten years, our family has relied on it. I've been lucky enough not to have needed this for a snake bite, but once or twice a year someone in the family is stung by a bee or wasp, and it comes in handy, especially if you can use it within minutes of being stung. It removes approximately 80% of the sting pain in my experience. The immediate discomfort experienced after using this is usually minimal. I've discovered that the itching that occurs the next day is more of a problem than the pain that occurs after using this product.
My sister was stung by a black hornet, and we believe it was a black hornet. She was walking towards my car when a bee appeared out of nowhere and stung her; she was startled and caught a glimpse of it before it flew away. She claimed she only remembers it being black, but she broke out in a rash around the bite in a matter of seconds, and it began to swell almost immediately. I dashed inside and grabbed this kit, beginning with the largest suction cup to pull whatever the bee had injected into her and working my way down to the smallest. The reaction was gone in seconds after sucking out the stinger and the fluid.
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