CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, Aug 4: Most community health centres (CHCs) across Ranchi do not have anti-snake venom drugs amid rising cases of human-snake conflicts.
CHCs in Namkum, Chanho and other blocks do not have life-saving drug availability. In case of a venomous snake bite, the patient will have to go to Sadar Hospital or RIMS to get the necessary treatment for survival.
The official at Namkum CHC said to Lagatar24.com that there are no anti-snake venom drugs available in the CHC and if there is a case of snakebite, they immediately refer them to Sadar Hospital. Notably, The official at CHC Chanho said that since snakebite is a rare incident that’s why they do not stock up on anti-snake venom drugs.
However, the Ranchi civil surgeon has denied these facts and said that CHCs around the city have been equipped with stocks of anti-snake venom drugs.
“I am not sure about the number of vials available in each CHC but as per my knowledge, all the CHCs across Ranchi have the availability of an anti-snake venom drug,” the civil surgeon said.
As per the current situation, only RIMS and Sadar Hospital, apart from private hospitals, have the availability of anti-snake venom drugs. Many times, people die of snake bites due to the lack of medical facilities in CHCs.
Meanwhile, the HOD of medicine dept at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) said that daily, around 10 to 12 cases of snake bites are reported in the emergency and this season, around two cases, have been reported in the ICU.
He added that the multi-speciality hospital has enough stock of ASVS to deal with such cases.
The civil surgeon mentioned that every year, most of the ASVS vials expire as the cases of snake bites is less compared to the vials available in the hospital. The life of these antivenoms is just 11 to 12 months after which they should not be used.
Ramesh Kumar, a wildlife conservationist from Ranchi, said that many doctors who treat patients with snake bites do not know the proper treatment and dosage of the medicine due to which patients lose their lives.
“Snakebite can be life-threatening but at the same time getting medical treatment at the right time can help the patient to survive. Many times the doctor treating a snakebite patient does not know how to treat them. There was one case where a person was suspecting that a snake bit him while he was sleeping. After reaching the hospital, the doctors did not even cross-check and gave him an anti-snake venom drug. He was lucky enough to survive,” he said.
He added that the government should provide proper awareness to people regarding snakes and how to deal with a snake bite. He further said that the wildlife community has been continuously requesting the district administration to provide CHCs with anti-snake venom drugs so that people do not have to travel to RIMS or Sadar hospital during such a life-threatening incident.
