A young North Burnett tradie has chastised himself for not being prepared for his second potentially deadly snakebite medical emergency.
Braydon Brighton said he is “all for” programs like LifeFlight’s free trauma training program First Minutes Matter that teach people what to do in a medical emergency before professional medical help arrives.
The Gin Gin rural contractor was brush cutting timber regrowth in knee-high grass on a Geata cattle property on 30 January when a brown snake bit him on the leg.
He had seen brown snakes around the area when hunting and was “kicking himself” for not being more cautious.
“I’ve felt two slaps on the side of my leg,” Mr Brighton said.
“And I’ve looked down to see two puncture wounds. I wasn’t real good – I wasn’t feeling real flash. I started to get a bit light-headed.”
The 27-year-old, who was previously bitten by a brown snake in 2021, normally has a first aid kit under the car seat, but this time he didn’t.
“I tried to keep cool, calm and collected,” he said. “My leg started to sting, and I thought ‘oh shit’. But I was at fault there for not having a snake bandage on me at the time and for not bloody preparing myself better.
“I just wasn’t thinking. If I am to be honest about it, I felt like a dead-set dickhead. I was a fool for not carrying it.”
He called his mother, who runs the Gin Gin Pharmacy, and she called Triple-0 (000).
The Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics bandaged his leg and put it in a splint and drove him to the LifeFlight helicopter.
The Bundaberg-based helicopter crew landed on the property Mr Brighton was working on and flew him to Bundaberg Hospital.
“They were making sure I was right and they kept a good eye on me,” he said. “By this time my leg was stinging, and I wasn’t feeling the best. My stomach wasn’t feeling real good – all the works and jerks of a snake bite.
“I was just trying to keep cool and calm, so I didn’t have the snake venom running through my system. I was just trying to keep my hopes up that I was going to see tomorrow. I am a bit of a stubborn bugger. I was just trying to keep positive because if you start thinking negative things, it can get pretty dark, pretty damn quick.”
He said he tied a shirt around his leg to try and stop the venom and was grateful that the LifeFlight helicopter was able to get him to the hospital quickly.
“If it went the other way around, and I had to get run into town by road, I might have been up shit creek without a paddle real quick,” he said. “I would have been in a real bind, that’s for certain.”
After he was discharged from hospital, he dropped in to see his mother at the Gin Gin Pharmacy and bought himself a snake bite bandage kit.
“It cost me $50, but was well worth the investment because it could save my life or someone that I’m with to make sure we don’t go down the gurgler.”
LifeFlight is running a series of First Minutes Matter workshops across Queensland and is encouraging people to sign up to strengthen community resilience.
LifeFlight Medical Educator Leah Harrison has been an emergency nurse for over 20 years and understands how valuable it is for people to know what they can do in a medical emergency before professional help arrives.
“The most important benefit of this program is being able to help people in the first stages of their accident or medical emergency,” Ms Harrison said.
“It is important for all people to know skills that can save a life in the minutes when people are waiting for specialist care to arrive for two reasons; firstly, no one should have to face the situation where they are the first family member or bystander in an incident, and not know how to help and secondly, because these skills will save lives and improve patients outcomes.
“These skills are especially vital in the rural community where road and farming accidents are more common.
“When people live in regional areas and smaller towns it means that a medical response can be further away and take longer than in more built-up areas, so it’s crucial that they have the skills to safely manage a medical emergency before official help arrives.”
The Bundaberg-based LifeFlight helicopter and crew service the Wide Bay-Burnett region and beyond.
Book into an upcoming FREE First Minutes Matter in person workshops. Visit lifeflight.org.au/first-minutes-matter/in-person-workshop/ for more details.
