i was wondering, with dwa snakes like cobras and vipers and u have all the liscence and stuff. does your local hospital have to stock the right stuff. or do you have to arrange it yourself.
btw i have no intension of getting one but i was just wondering because of safety reasons.
xsachax

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I believe you have to contact your local A & E and inform them of any DWA pets you have, this is a part of obtaining a DWA licence, I looked into keeping a Diamond Back but was put off by all the red tape to do it.
It is good thing though having to go through all the red tape if you really want a DWA snake, as the precautions in place are spot on.

kool. yeh i could see how that would make people stop and think bout it. and makes people serioisly think about getting one.
xsachax

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I didnt have to tell my A+E although I did, but it wasnt part of my conditions, but hospitals dont stock anti venom anyway, because its very expensive and can take multiple vials which have very short shelf lives, its kept by a few zoos that keep venomous as part of their conditions, and at Liverpool school of tropical medicine and London poisons unit, any bites would be treated accordingly and anti venom brought to you.

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but it will take an hour in a chopper to get to me in swindon from either of those places.

id be dead by the time they were getting in their copters

its unusual for someone to die from envenomation that quickly it does happen in certain circumstances, neurotoxic venom shutting down your respiritory system, but AV wont help that anyway, or a direct hit straight into a vein but the untreated lethality rates for alot of vipers are surprisingly low.

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No, you wouldn't unless you were really unlucky and it depends largely on the venom you've been hit with. There are a number of options ranging from observation to full-blown chemically induced coma while they helicopter the AV from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine or London to you.

If it was a Copperhead chances are they would just keep an eye on you but if it was something a little more hardcore like a krait or a taipan then there's a fair chance the helicopters would be flying.

As for contacting your local hospital if you plan on keeping venomous I can't imagine that would be a bad idea. Having an information packet on each of your animals is an idea too so it can be grabbed and passed to the medics in the event of a bite as are cage cards with contact phone numbers, occupant numbers and common and latin names.