Man dies from multiple bites removing brown snake from nursery

An Australian man has died after being bitten multiple times by a highly venomous snake that he was trying to remove from a childcare centre.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation named him as 47-year-old Jerromy Brookes.

Brookes was bitten multiple times while trying to catch and bag a brown snake, one of the world’s most venomous snakes, at a centre in North Queensland, local media reported.

After receiving the bites, he then drove to his home in Deeragun to tell his wife.

The Queensland Ambulance Services said: “One patient was transported to Townsville Hospital in a critical condition after a snake bite at a private address at 3.24pm.”

The ABC said Brookes was found in cardiac arrest with multiple bites to his left arm. He was taken to the Townsville University Hospital in a critical condition but did not survive.

A spokesman for the Queensland Ambulance Services said paramedics believe he was bitten by a brown snake, a highly poisonous species that releases a potent venom capable of paralysing the nerves of the heart, lungs and diaphragm, thus suffocating the victim.

Paula Marten, the ambulance service’s acting director, said Brookes drove to his wife after the attack, who immediately immobilised the limb and applied compression bandages. After noticing certain symptoms, she contacted the emergency services.

Ms Marten said Brooke’s wife’s course of action was “absolutely” correct.

“If you’re not aware of snakes, then treat them all as if they are venomous — contact triple zero [the emergency phone number] and apply the basic first aid measures,” she said.

Australia is home to around 140 species of land snake, around 100 of which are venomous, but of those only 12 are likely to inflict a fatal wound, according to the NSW government.

Brown snakes are among the most dangerous, with about 200 people sent to hospital each year after being bitten.

“We have very good quality antivenom in Australia,” Christina Zdenek of the Australian Reptile Academy told AFP.

Snakes are most active from September through to January, when the cold-blooded reptiles warm up in the Australian summer.

Ms Zdenek said the best way to treat a snake bite was by “staying still, calm and wrapping the whole limb tightly with a stretchy bandage”.

“Don’t ever try to kill a snake,” she added.