Abstract

Background: Snakebite is one of the important medical emergencies and directs a great number of people to therapeutic centers. The aim of this study is Knowledge of snake bite patients referred to Ahvaz Razi Hospital in 2011 about pre- hospital care. Methods: This research is a descriptive- correlation study in which 120 snakebite patients were surveyed. The method for collecting the data is a researcher-made questionnaire. After collecting the data, they were entered the SPSS statistical software version 18. Then, the data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics. Results: The results of the present study showed that 96.7% of the bites happened in autumn. In addition, most patients referred to hospital 15 minutes after sting and their stay duration in hospital was three days. Besides, pain was the main complication of many patients. In most cases (80%) did not have knowledge about first aids to the injured person. In addition, in most cases (70%) they had very low knowledge about how to use a tourniquet. Conclusion: Considering the importance of the pre hospital cares for the accident- exposed patients, it seems necessary for the society to be educated adequately about this issue to prevent the adverse outcomes.