Alert as girl, 6, dies from brown snake bite in far-north NSW

THE close-knit country town of Walgett has been devastated by the death of a six-year-old girl at the weekend after she was bitten by a brown snake.

A brown snake pictured with eggs.

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THE close-knit country town of Walgett has been devastated by the death of a six-year-old girl at the weekend after she was bitten by a brown snake.

The girl, who had been due to start year one this month, was bitten on a property just outside Walgett about 3pm on Friday, February 3.

After being rushed to Walgett Hospital, where doctors administered antivenene for the eastern brown snake, she was flown to the Children’s Hospital in Randwick and placed on life-support — but her week-long fight for life ended on the weekend.

A brown snake pictured with eggs.

After the girl’s condition significantly deteriorated, she was transferred back to Walgett Hospital where she passed away on Saturday,” a police spokesman said.

A “critical incident” team of counsellors has been dispatched to Walgett, in the state’s northwest, to help the girl’s grief-stricken classmates deal with the tragedy.

Tim Faulkner, general manager of the Australian Reptile Park where the antivenene was produced, said eastern browns were the second most deadly in the world.

“They are extremely venomous — yet victims may not even be aware of being bitten as the fangs are small but highly effective,” he said.

“They are normally very shy snakes, but they are lightning fast and there may be no sensation, it might be like being scratched by a blade of grass.

“Normally the snake will try and get away, but they are not afraid to bite and when they do the poison basically stops your brain from communicating with your body. It effectively sends you into paralysis.”

He said fatal snake bites were a rare occurrence; while several thousands incidents of bites were reported, about 300 to 500 anti-venoms were delivered and there were about three to five deaths a year.

The girl was flown to Sydney Children’s Hospital where she was placed on life support.

Karla Hartage, from the Walgett IGA supermarket, said the family was well-known in the town and the entire community was in shock.

“It was really terrible, quite awful news,” she said.

Local newsagent David Waites, who also lives on a property out of town with young children, said snakes were “a part of life around the western districts” and “it was a dreadful case”.

“We have been in the middle of a drought, and then there’s been some rain and they are around,” he said.

‘‘All young kids are taught to be careful of snakes.”

NSW Ambulance and NSW Police have issued a reminder to people to be wary of snakes in warmer months.

■If you are bitten by a snake, ensure someone calls Triple-0 immediately;

■Until help arrives, if the bite is on a limb, apply a pressure immobilisation bandage but not so tight it will cut off circulation;

■If the bite is not on a limb, apply direct and firm pressure to the bite site with your hands (it is also important the patient is kept still); and,

■Check items of clothing that have been left outside before wearing them and if you lift something such as a rock or log, lift the object so it’s facing away from you.