THE VENOMOUS SNAKES OF TEXAS

THE PROGRESS (Three Rivers, Texas) 24 Apr 08
By GARY KENT

A 24-year-old George West man was on his way back home from Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi Tuesday afternoon after being treated for a coral snake bite.

Liz Bulsterbaum, the victim’s mother, said her son, Cody, found the snake Sunday evening and “he tried to pick it up.”

She said he knew he had found a deadly coral snake and when asked why he tried to handle the reptile, she said, “He’s just Cody.”

That curious streak could have cost the George West man his life. Coral snakes inject a neurotoxin that is difficult to treat and can be fatal if the victim does not receive antivenin quickly.

Fortunately, emergency medical personnel from Angel Care Ambulance Service in Beeville met Bulsterbaum halfway between George West and Beeville and they rushed him to Christus Spohn Hospital Beeville. By the time he arrived, local authorities had contacted Halo-Flight, the Corpus Christi-based helicopter ambulance operation. The victim was then rushed to Spohn Memorial where doctors had antivenin waiting for him. “He was in ICU for a couple of days,” Mrs. Bulsterbaum said. But the antivenin worked and he began recovering quickly.

Ironically, Bulsterbaum was the second person to be bitten by a coral snake in recent days. A 63-year-old Flour Bluff woman was bitten by a coral snake that her cat brought into her house last week. The victim, Judy Hales, told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that antivenin had to be rushed to Corpus Christi from Alice and Kingsville because the only antivenin there had been sent to Hallettsville after someone was bitten there.

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