I was looking for that tourniquet post CJK was looking for (didn't find it) & came across an old post where Chris K was asking BeachDoc about cleaning/sterlizing a Sawyer venom extractor.

BeachDoc recommended that the unit be soaked in a 10% bleach solution.

Regular bleach (like plain Chlorox) is usually 5% sodium hypochlorite (6% if it's Ultra).

My question: When he says 10%, may I assume that he means THAT bleach, diluted down to one part bleach-from-the-bottle to 9 parts water?

Just making sure.... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Sue

10% Bleach solution is 9 parts water and 1 part Bleach from the bottle.

The way we "teach" junkies on the street who participate in "needle swapping" is to use household bleach (10 sec), than bleach again (10 sec) than water and water... Works fine.

The sawyer extractor is no longer considered proper care for a snake bite. It was found to have no benefit.

I hope they are pulling that inside and making sure it coats all interior surfaces.

<img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Interesting, I had my doubts, but could you link us to a scientific report for reference.

Here is a one-page .pdf article on an experiment to determine if the Sawyer Extractor was valuable in snakebite treatments: http://www.fresno.ucsf.edu/em/posters/alberts_snake_bite.pdf

If you want to skip to the conclusion:

"The Extractor™ is capable of producing significant suction at the wound site. This is evident in that the device extracted blood over the fifteen minutes of suction and left a suction mark several hours post experiment.

"However, the Extractor™ was unable to remove the mock venom from our simulated snakebites.

"Our data suggests that the use of this device in particular and suction in general may not be useful for reducing the total body venom load after a venomous snakebite."

Sue

the 2004 annals of Emergency Medicine hade a study published. I found it in A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness and Travel Medicine 3rd edition by Dr. Eric Weiss.