Jharkhand’s green cover gets accentuated in monsoon but the plush green plateaus of the land of the forest often hides deadly snakes beneath the surface. The creatures come out of their pits leading to confrontation with potentially devastating consequences for human. But, casualty as a result of confrontation between the creature and human is most likely to be contained to a great degree, claim government hospitals.According to an unverified academic report, around 36-50 deaths are reported (data compiled upto December, 2014) annually in Jharkhand which is too low compared to the figure of reported bites by venomous snakes in few districts. The reason as some medical officials suggests is the preparedness to mitigate death due to poisonous snake bite.
“Around 200 cases of snake bite are reported annually in Hazaribagh. So, we always maintain stock of anti-venoms. Right now we have the stock of June which will suffice in July as well,” said Medical Superintendent of Hazaribagh, Dr SR Dangi.Monsoon has set medical officers in motion in certain districts to equip hospitals for the remedy to the venoms of the deadly reptiles that shares space with human and often resides among the species of the higher order. As the season is just opportune for the aggression of snakes, district hospitals have begun sourcing additional venoms to fill the gap in the inventory of the life saving serum.
“We have just floated tenders for the purchase of anti-venoms. Besides we have drugs for curing snake bite. We don’t let patient suffer even if we fall short of medicines in which case we purchase medicine from market from the funds of Hospital Management Society,” said Civil Surgeon of Saraikela-Kharsawan, Dr SK Jha.Efforts are being made by district administrations to arm themselves against one of the most ubiquitous of all problems during monsoon. The department of Health is collecting annual case loads of snake bites from districts however the reason for date collection could not be ascertained as Director-in-Chief of Medial Services; Sumant Mishra could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
“We have stocks to provide first aid but when cases become severe we refer it to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences. We do maintain stocks of anti-venoms. This year the directorate has asked for case loads and requirements,” maintained Civil Surgeon of Ranchi, Gopal Srivastava. The anti-venom widely available in the hospitals of Jharkhand is used to cure bites from any of the five categories of venomous snakes—Cobra , Viper , Krait and Green Vine Snakes.