09 September 2005
FEATURE: R1MC doctors revive, save dying snakebite victim
EIGHTEEN-year-old Arnel Florentino of barangay Cataray, Bayambang was almost at hid death throes – cyanotic, very faint heartbeat and his skin was cold and clammy – when he was brought into the Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) around 3:30 pm of August 20. He had been bitten by a poisonous snake in his left ankle while cooking at the Quitaleg Dormitory on Posadas Avenue, in San Carlos City.
The deadly effects of the snake bite was ravaging his body and a hospital in the city to where he was first rushed, decided to refer his case to the R1MC after worried relatives noted eh was going numb and dizzy despite emergency medications. It was a timely decision; by the time he reached R1MC, his condition had turned for the worse.
He was admitted at the R1MC at 5 p.m. of the same day. Doctors quickly intubated him and hooked him to a cardiac monitor. Dr. Jesus T. Canto, medical center chief, after being apprised of the patient’s progressively worsening condition and knowing time was of the essence, ordered the administration of cobra anti-venom which was readily available at the hospital pharmacy on the now-violet-skinned and totally numbed Arnel.
A toxicologist was also called in for additional orders and closer monitoring of Arnel’s medical reactions at the ward. Ten hours after he was admitted in near-death condition, the patient woke up. Seven days after, the patient was ambulatory, coherent and “miraculously without any neurologic deficits,” his attending physicians reported, and was discharged good as new.
Arnel consumed 25 ampules of cobra anti-venom (15 ampules provided by the hospital pharmacy and 10 were additional requests fro the Regional Institute for Tropical Medicine) all given for free.
Based on previous cases, Arnel’s medical condition at time of admission was a “Glasscow 3 status” where a patient usually recovers but with neurologic deficits or mental lapses. In his particular case, however, thanks to the quick and alert staff and management of R1MC led by Canto, the patient went home as if nothing happened, all his faculties and senses intact.
Canto said he had always insisted on having standby medicines for such rare medical cases as snake bites at the pharmacy, despite the cost and potency preservation requirements for such. “Nothing beats anticipation and preparation,” the R1MC chief said.
True enough, the R1MC records show the anti-venom ampules have saved not just Arnel’s extreme case but that of seven other since August last year, all victims of snake bites: Robert Ydio, 58, of Mangaldan; Sally Castro, 17 at the pedia ward; Jimmy Bajo, 41, Mangaldan, who was treated twice on September 25, 2004 and again lat April 25, this year; Rolando Yangao at the surgical ward; Marvin Espinosa, 21, medical ward; Bernabe Nibre, 58, of San Fernando, La Union; and Paulino Dulay at the emergency room.
The deadly effects of the snake bite was ravaging his body and a hospital in the city to where he was first rushed, decided to refer his case to the R1MC after worried relatives noted eh was going numb and dizzy despite emergency medications. It was a timely decision; by the time he reached R1MC, his condition had turned for the worse.
He was admitted at the R1MC at 5 p.m. of the same day. Doctors quickly intubated him and hooked him to a cardiac monitor. Dr. Jesus T. Canto, medical center chief, after being apprised of the patient’s progressively worsening condition and knowing time was of the essence, ordered the administration of cobra anti-venom which was readily available at the hospital pharmacy on the now-violet-skinned and totally numbed Arnel.
A toxicologist was also called in for additional orders and closer monitoring of Arnel’s medical reactions at the ward. Ten hours after he was admitted in near-death condition, the patient woke up. Seven days after, the patient was ambulatory, coherent and “miraculously without any neurologic deficits,” his attending physicians reported, and was discharged good as new.
Arnel consumed 25 ampules of cobra anti-venom (15 ampules provided by the hospital pharmacy and 10 were additional requests fro the Regional Institute for Tropical Medicine) all given for free.
Based on previous cases, Arnel’s medical condition at time of admission was a “Glasscow 3 status” where a patient usually recovers but with neurologic deficits or mental lapses. In his particular case, however, thanks to the quick and alert staff and management of R1MC led by Canto, the patient went home as if nothing happened, all his faculties and senses intact.
Canto said he had always insisted on having standby medicines for such rare medical cases as snake bites at the pharmacy, despite the cost and potency preservation requirements for such. “Nothing beats anticipation and preparation,” the R1MC chief said.
True enough, the R1MC records show the anti-venom ampules have saved not just Arnel’s extreme case but that of seven other since August last year, all victims of snake bites: Robert Ydio, 58, of Mangaldan; Sally Castro, 17 at the pedia ward; Jimmy Bajo, 41, Mangaldan, who was treated twice on September 25, 2004 and again lat April 25, this year; Rolando Yangao at the surgical ward; Marvin Espinosa, 21, medical ward; Bernabe Nibre, 58, of San Fernando, La Union; and Paulino Dulay at the emergency room.
