IDF soldier badly hurt by snakebite
20-year-old hooked up to medical respirator
A 20-year-old IDF soldier was listed in serious condition Tuesday after being bitten by a snake in the Golan Heights a day earlier.
The young man, hospitalized at the Ziv medical center in Safed, was put in a medically induced coma and connected to a respirator after an edema had formed in his throat as a result of the bite.
It was not immediately clear what species of snake caused the bite, or whether the snake was venomous.
The incident occurred at Mount Avital near Israel’s border with Syria on the Golan Heights.
The soldier was evacuated by a Magen David Adom helicopter while paramedics administered first aid.
Once at the hospital, he was transferred to the intensive care unit, after complaining of breathing difficulties.
“He arrived in unstable condition with bite marks to his right arm above the elbow,” the head of the hospital’s ICU told Channel 2. “He was treated with fluids and received antiserum transfusions. After [his condition] stabilized and there was an improvement in his blood pressure, the young man was transferred for further treatment and observation in the ICU.”
A 38-year-old woman died early last month after being bitten by a snake during a family vacation on the Golan Heights. She was evacuated to the Ziv medical center, but pronounced brain dead that same evening. She died a few days later.