Qld Health claims adequate supplies of antivenom at Warwick Hospital despite woman's death from snake bite

QLD Health has assured residents adequate supplies of antivenom are held at Warwick Hospital, after a woman died after being bitten by a snake.

A WOMAN has died in hospital after she was bitten by a snake at a private property near Warwick, southwest of Brisbane, late Wednesday.

The 43-year-old woman from Wheatvale, west of Warwick, was raced to hospital in a critical condition by paramedics after they received a 000 call reporting she had been bitten by a snake at 4.50pm.

The woman lived on a property on Leyburn-Cunningham Rd.

It is believed her 15-year-old son called emergency services.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman said police from Stanthorpe were asked to transport a second vial of antivenom from Stanthorpe Hospital to Warwick Hospital.

He said the woman was pronounced deceased at 7.05pm.

It is understood the woman was bitten several times but the type of snake has not yet been released.

Queensland Health's director-general Tony O'Connell told AAP there are adequate supplies of antivenom at a Darling Downs hospital where a woman died.

He said the transportation of the second vial of antivenom was a precaution.

"There are 14 vials of antivenom kept at Warwick and there was not an issue with the adequacy of antivenom supplies in that case,'' he told reporters in Brisbane.

"We always try to keep the number of vials at the maximum so we're ready for the next case that comes along.''
Snake bites can be deadly even when antivenom was available, he said.

"If a snake venom gets into the bloodstream straight away rather than just being deposited into the muscles then it's a much more difficult challenge to maintain the patient,'' he said.