%3Amax_bytes(150000)%3Astrip_icc()%2FTAL-snake-warning-sign-HIKESNAKEBITE0625-f8d9e14b84fd48b6a545019fbb5e1ab3.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
This Teen 'Felt a Prick' On a Fishing Trip Only to Discover a Rattlesnake Bite
Zain Shah was bitten by a rattlesnake on the banks of Lost Cove Creek during a high-school fishing trip in the mountains of western North Carolina. The North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) announced in a press release that responders in Avery County successfully rescued the hiker, who was transferred to the hospital to receive medical treatment.
The group was about to head back for the day and 17-year-old Zain had just stepped over a log when he felt a prick on his heel. When he looked, he saw a timber rattlesnake sitting nearby. He is currently recovering.
'I'm beyond grateful for the incredible NCHART and Linville-Central Rescue teams, who got to them in the middle of nowhere and saved his life! He was air-lifted to and treated at Johnson City Medical Center, TN, and is now recovering at home,' his father, Imran Shah, said in a Facebook post.
If you are bitten by a snake, it's important to call 911 and go to the closest emergency department to make sure that the snake isn't venomous. 'If someone in your party can take a photo while staying a good distance away, that could be helpful in identifying the snake," Maggie Peikon, manager of communications at the American Hiking Society, told Travel + Leisure .
Try your best to stay calm and minimize activity if possible,' added Peikon.
It's important to keep the bite below the level of the heart, and avoid drinking alcohol and pain relievers, which can thin your blood. Also, if you are bitten, you should not try to suck the venom out with your mouth or any kind of suction device, as it can lead to an infection.
'If you are bitten on the arm or hand, remove any constricting clothing, rings, bracelets, etc. in case your arm swells. Do not apply a constriction band or tourniquet with a belt or rope. Do not apply either hot or cold packs,' Peikon said. 'If you have a pen or marker on you, circle the area where you were bitten and take note of the time of the bite—this will help monitor swelling and rate of changes.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Blueberry recall elevated to highest level due to listeria risk
A blueberry recall has been upgraded to the highest possible level over contamination concerns. Alma Pak International LLC voluntarily recalled 400 boxes, weighing 30 pounds each, of its organic blueberries June 9 because they tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, a disease-causing bacteria, during routine testing, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On Tuesday, the FDA elevated the blueberry recall to a Class I, the highest risk level. A Class I recall is 'a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death,' as noted by the FDA. The recalled blueberries were shipped to a single customer in North Carolina. The affected product can be identified by the Lot numbers: 13325 G1060 / 13325 G 1096. As noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), listeria is a 'bacteria that can contaminate many foods,' with infections caused by eating food with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. Although symptoms can vary, a listeria infection 'can cause invasive illness and intestinal illness.' Listeria infection is the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the United States, killing roughly 260 people per year. Many food products in the U.S. have been recently recalled due to a listeria risk. Last month, FreshRealm's chicken fettuccine alfredo products were recalled after the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said they may be 'adulterated' with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes. The outbreak resulted in three deaths, as well as one fetal loss, and injured 17 people across 13 states, officials said. The ready-made meals were shipped to Walmart and Kroger locations nationwide from FreshRealm establishments in San Clemente, California, Montezuma, Georgia, and Indianapolis, Indiana, according to authorities. Also in June, Bornstein Seafoods Inc issued a recall on 44,550 pounds of its Cooked & Peeled Ready-To-Eat Coldwater Shrimp Meat. This came after a routine sampling detected Listeria monocytogenes in the shrimp. The last two years have also seen an alarming and unexplained rise in recalls. In 2024, approximately 300 food recalls were issued, with those recalls being linked to nearly 1,400 illnesses, a Public Interest Research Group report revealed. Out of the 1,400 illnesses, 487 people became sick enough to require hospitalization, and 19 people died. While those numbers are still low when weighed against the entire U.S. population, they are also double the number of hospitalizations and deaths from foodborne illnesses in 2023.
Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Washington Post
How an empty North Carolina rural hospital explains a GOP senator's vote against Trump's tax bill
WASHINGTON — Though patients don't rush through the doors of this emergency room anymore, an empty hospital in Williamston, North Carolina, offers an evocative illustration of why Republican Sen. Thom Tillis would buck his party leaders to vote down President Donald Trump's signature domestic policy package. Martin General is one of a dozen hospitals that have closed in North Carolina over the last two decades. This is a problem that hospital systems and health experts warn may only worsen if the legislation passes with its $1 trillion cuts to the Medicaid program and new restrictions on enrollment in the coverage.
Associated Press
12 hours ago
- Associated Press
How an empty North Carolina rural hospital explains a GOP senator's vote against Trump's tax bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Though patients don't rush through the doors of this emergency room anymore, an empty hospital in Williamston, North Carolina, offers an evocative illustration of why Republican Sen. Thom Tillis would buck his party leaders to vote down President Donald Trump's signature domestic policy package. Martin General is one of a dozen hospitals that have closed in North Carolina over the last two decades. This is a problem that hospital systems and health experts warn may only worsen if the legislation passes with its $1 trillion cuts to the Medicaid program and new restrictions on enrollment in the coverage. Tillis' home state showcases the financial impact that more Medicaid dollars can have on hospitals in rural and poor regions throughout the country. Tillis said in a floor speech on Sunday, explaining his vote, that the GOP bill will siphon billions of dollars from Medicaid recipients and the health system in his state. 'Republicans are about to make a mistake on health care and betraying a promise,' said Tillis, who has announced he will not seek re-election because of his opposition to the bill. Along with Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, he joined all Democrats in voting against the bill. Tillis later accused the president and his colleagues of not fully grasping the full impact of the bill: 'We owe it to the states to do the work to understand how these proposals affect them. How hard is that? I did it.' For Martin General Hospital in Williamston, North Carolina's decision to expand Medicaid came just too late. The emergency room abruptly closed its doors in the eastern North Carolina county that's home to more than 20,000 people in August 2023. The closest hospital is now about a 30-minute drive away. Then-Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper faulted the state's failure to expand the Medicaid program to more low-income adults sooner to prevent Martin General's closure. North Carolina began offering Medicaid expansion to its residents in December. Today, more than 673,000 people are receiving this coverage. Now, Tillis and other state officials are worried the Republican bill, which will limit how much Medicaid money is sent back to providers, threatens funds for hospitals in their state again. And it could trigger a state Medicaid law that would close down North Carolina's otherwise successful expansion of coverage unless state legislators make changes or locate funds. The Medicaid dollars that Republicans seek to scale back in their bill have helped buttress the remaining rural hospitals across North Carolina, said Jay Ludlam, a deputy health secretary who leads North Carolina Medicaid. 'This has been a lifeline for our rural hospitals here in North Carolina and has helped provide and keep them open,' Ludlam said. 'Rural hospitals play an integral role in communities both as a point of access for health care but also for the local economy because of the contributions that those hospital and hospital systems make to those communities.' Republicans have responded to concerns with a provision that will provide $10 billion annually to rural hospitals for five years, or $50 billion in total. Around the country, 200 hospitals have closed or shuttered emergency services in the last two decades, many of them in red states across the southeastern and midwestern U.S. States that have declined to expand Medicaid coverage, the health insurance program for the poorest of Americans, have seen the closures accelerate. Tennessee, for example, has shed 500 beds since 2014, when a federal law first allowed states to expand Medicaid coverage to a greater share of low-income people. It's one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid. More than 300 hospitals could be at risk for closure if the Republicans' bill becomes law, an analysis by the Cecil G. Sheps Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found last month. The center tracks rural hospital closures. 'Substantial cuts to Medicaid or Medicare payments could increase the number of unprofitable rural hospitals and elevate their risk of financial distress,' the analysis concluded. 'In response, hospitals may be forced to reduce service lines, convert to a different type of health care facility, or close altogether.' — Associated Press writer Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
