What if you or your child was bite by a wild animal or creature? These are the steps that you should follow.

 

If the situation is an emergency, then please contact emergency personnel immediately and do not rely on the internet for advice!

 

We also have a comprehensive video on this subject, which you could watch by clicking HERE now.

 

You could also download the podcast by clicking the download button next to the podcast above.

 

After An Animal Bite

 

Animal bites & scratches that break the skin can sometimes cause an infection. It’s important to treat it immediately to minimize the risk of disease, infection, or bad pain.

 

Here’s what you should do:

 

Step 1: Wash the bite area with soap and water. If the bite is bleeding, then put pressure on it using sterile gauze or a clean cloth.

 

Step 2: Once the bleeding has stopped, put antibiotic ointment on the area. This will help prevent any infection.

 

Step 3: Cover the area with a bandage or sterile gauze so that the injury does not get re-opened or exposed to micro-organisms in the air.

 

Step 4: If you or your child has pain, then you can take painkillers like ibuprofen. Do not exceed the recommended dose, and use the minimum amount necessary to dull the pain. Ice may help as well in some cases.

 

Contact Medical Professionals

 

The above are simply the steps you should take immediately following an animal bite. However your tasks do not end here.

 

It is important to contact a medical professional and get seen by a doctor as soon as possible.

 

While it is rather rare to contract rabies or some other deadly disease, it does occasionally happen. For example, 59,000 people die per year as a result of rabies.

 

Unfortunately symptoms of rabies (and some other deadly diseases) do not appear slowly. They don’t show at all, and then they all suddenly come on. Generally when symptoms of rabies start to appear, it is too late and the subject usually passes away.

 

The medical professional will be able to better treat your wound, prevent infection, and also administer vaccines if they believe it is necessary.

 

You should also see a medical professional even if it was a pet that bit you. If the pet is behind on vaccinations such as rabies, then they may transmit the disease to you even if they are not currently showing symptoms.

 

Some creatures are also “rabies vectors,” which means that they don’t get sick from the disease themselves but they can transmit it to others! So keep in mind that all because an animal doesn’t appear sick does not mean that a disease was not transmitted.

 

In any case, it is important to see a medical professional as soon as possible, as we and other blogs/videos are not qualified to give expert medical advice on the subject.

 

Write Down Bite Details

 

When you contact the medical professional you may wish to contact a local wildlife control service as well, especially if the animal was acting strangely or in a place it wasn’t supposed to be.

 

For example, when did the bite occur? How did it happen? Which animal was the one to bite you?

 

Writing down & remembering these details will help wildlife control services properly locate the animal and assess the risk to other humans. In some cases there have been animals that have gone crazy and attacked many people, so by contacting a wildlife control service they will be able to handle the situation before more people can be hurt.

 

Prevention- Stop It before It Happens

 

Most bites from wild animals are completely preventable. Take note of what occurred with you or your child when the bite occurred, and make sure not to do that again.

 

Of course some bites are completely random & unlucky. If that’s the case, then relax in knowing that it will likely never happen again.

 

Got Questions? Call Us

 

If you have any questions, you should just give us a call at 855-WILDLIFE and we’ll be sure to help you out best we can!

 

Thanks for reading, and see you soon.

-Wildlife x Team International