Santa Barbara Rattlesnake Bite
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:50 pmI have heard that is about $3,500 per vial of A/V.
TV worker's ordeal spotlights snakebite threat
'Access Hollywood' employee spent time in Palm Springs recovering from injury
City News Service
PALM SPRINGS — An “Access Hollywood” executive bitten by a rattlesnake — just in time to put her out of action on the Michael Jackson story — is expected back at work today after a nasty reaction and two- week recovery that required 22 vials of antivenin, she said Sunday.
Sharon Smith's disastrous encounter with the snake occurred June 27 at a roadside rest area on U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara County. She was hospitalized for four days in Solvang, before coming to Palm Springs to recuperate.
Almost as bad as the bite itself, Smith, “Access Hollywood's” director of research and video tape library, missed most of what she called the television news magazine's “the biggest story of the decade” — the death of Michael Jackson at age 50.
Smith, who lives in Burbank, contributed to “Access Hollywood's” initial coverage and on the following day. Then came the rattler.
That Saturday about 11:20 a.m., she and husband Bill stopped in the foothills of Santa Ynez Mountains en route to Avila Beach at a rest area north of Gaviota to let their dogs romp, Smith said.
Wearing long pants and leather sandals, she walked the dogs about 20 feet over bare dirt, turned around to walk back and felt “a very sharp prick on my foot,” she said.
“I didn't run to the car,” Smith said, adding that she told her husband she'd been bitten by a rattler and need to get to a hospital as soon as possible.
Using a GPS in their vehicle, the couple found the nearest hospital and headed for Solvang about 10 miles away. Five minutes into the trip, Smith's tongue went numb.
Then they hit bumper-to-bumper weekend traffic in touristy Solvang.
Smith had her right foot propped up on the dash as she talked to a 911 operator.
Smith's husband used the center lane to get his wife to Santa Ynez Cottage Hospital.
“I could no longer walk,” Smith said. “I felt paralyzed.”
Initially, the doctors and emergency room medics treating her thought Smith had suffered a scratch and a panic attack, she said.
But her foot began to swell. After multiple conferences with poison control experts, doctors decided in the early evening she should be given antivenin and admitted to the hospital.
The swelling moved up Smith's leg to her thigh and, by the next day, her whole leg was streaky red in places and black-and-blue in others, Smith said.
After 22 vials of antivenin, she left the hospital June 30.
Additional Facts
Rattler alert
Being cold-blooded, rattlers like sunbathing and can often be found in sunny spots along trails. They will typically shake their tail to warn off any threat, but if stepped on or frightened can strike without warning.
Anyone out for a walk in hot, sunny weather — in paved and unpaved areas — should remain aware of their surroundings and not step, or put their arms, in areas they cannot examine first, according to snake and reptile experts.
TV worker's ordeal spotlights snakebite threat
'Access Hollywood' employee spent time in Palm Springs recovering from injury
City News Service
PALM SPRINGS — An “Access Hollywood” executive bitten by a rattlesnake — just in time to put her out of action on the Michael Jackson story — is expected back at work today after a nasty reaction and two- week recovery that required 22 vials of antivenin, she said Sunday.
Sharon Smith's disastrous encounter with the snake occurred June 27 at a roadside rest area on U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara County. She was hospitalized for four days in Solvang, before coming to Palm Springs to recuperate.
Almost as bad as the bite itself, Smith, “Access Hollywood's” director of research and video tape library, missed most of what she called the television news magazine's “the biggest story of the decade” — the death of Michael Jackson at age 50.
Smith, who lives in Burbank, contributed to “Access Hollywood's” initial coverage and on the following day. Then came the rattler.
That Saturday about 11:20 a.m., she and husband Bill stopped in the foothills of Santa Ynez Mountains en route to Avila Beach at a rest area north of Gaviota to let their dogs romp, Smith said.
Wearing long pants and leather sandals, she walked the dogs about 20 feet over bare dirt, turned around to walk back and felt “a very sharp prick on my foot,” she said.
“I didn't run to the car,” Smith said, adding that she told her husband she'd been bitten by a rattler and need to get to a hospital as soon as possible.
Using a GPS in their vehicle, the couple found the nearest hospital and headed for Solvang about 10 miles away. Five minutes into the trip, Smith's tongue went numb.
Then they hit bumper-to-bumper weekend traffic in touristy Solvang.
Smith had her right foot propped up on the dash as she talked to a 911 operator.
Smith's husband used the center lane to get his wife to Santa Ynez Cottage Hospital.
“I could no longer walk,” Smith said. “I felt paralyzed.”
Initially, the doctors and emergency room medics treating her thought Smith had suffered a scratch and a panic attack, she said.
But her foot began to swell. After multiple conferences with poison control experts, doctors decided in the early evening she should be given antivenin and admitted to the hospital.
The swelling moved up Smith's leg to her thigh and, by the next day, her whole leg was streaky red in places and black-and-blue in others, Smith said.
After 22 vials of antivenin, she left the hospital June 30.
Additional Facts
Rattler alert
Being cold-blooded, rattlers like sunbathing and can often be found in sunny spots along trails. They will typically shake their tail to warn off any threat, but if stepped on or frightened can strike without warning.
Anyone out for a walk in hot, sunny weather — in paved and unpaved areas — should remain aware of their surroundings and not step, or put their arms, in areas they cannot examine first, according to snake and reptile experts.