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CNN Sunday Morning

U.S. Troops Deal With Dangers of Kuwait

Aired February 09, 2003 - 09:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: For U.S. troops already in the Gulf and especially in Kuwait, there are dangers lurking in seemingly every nook and cranny. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us live from Kuwait with more on that story. Hello, Sanjay.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon from Kuwait there, Miles. There are some dangers out here. I think they surprise a lot of the soldiers. They found some dangers lurking outside their barracks, not bullets or bombs, but rather some creatures that are much more ancient dangers and possibly just as deadly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is this thing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a viper.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said there was two outside our door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you going to do differently?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to -- I don't remember one thing about (UNINTELLIGIBLE), that's number one, and a -- don't be leaving food trays everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it alive? Oh, no, it's not alive, but no, you had to shake out your shoes, you had to shake your sleeping bag, had to shake out everything prior to putting it on, because you never know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: You never do know. But there are things that we know that are different than the old wives' tales we've heard so much about. Don't cut a wound if you've just been bitten by a snake or a scorpion, don't suck on it. That's another common old wives' tale. Don't use a tourniquet and don't put ice on it. Those things don't help. Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: All right, well, those are the don'ts. What are the dos, doctor? GUPTA: Well, one of the things, I guess, probably not surprising is most people experience terror when first being bit by a snake or scorpion. Calm yourself down, if you can. Easier said than done, perhaps. But certainly anything you can do to prevent the blood from rushing from that bite to the rest of your body is a good thing. Sometimes even splinting the limb, actually immobilizing the limb sometimes helps as well.

There are medications to try and reverse the effects, anti- venoms, both for snake bites and scorpion bites. Before you get to the hospital, though, however, sometimes you limb may actually swell, so do remove all jewelry and don't put any kind of tourniquet on there.

Usually most people do quite well. Interestingly, the most common people who are bitten are actually men, between the ages of 17 and 27, although they're also the most likely to survive a snake or a scorpion bite. Children and the elderly are most susceptible to actually dying from one -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: And usually the last words before they get bitten are, watch this. Quickly, why no tourniquet? You would think that would make sense to isolate the bite area.

GUPTA: That's right. One of the big concerns, actually, from these bites is that the skin surrounding the bite might actually die or necrose. And if you actually put a tourniquet on that, apparently that seems to facilitate that dying or necrosing of the skin. They've found that it's just not that effective to put a tourniquet on there. It's better to try to immobilize the limb and get the person to a hospital where the anti-venoms can be administered. That's sort of the goal, the key.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta in Kuwait City, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 9, 2003 - 09:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: For U.S. troops already in the Gulf and especially in Kuwait, there are dangers lurking in seemingly every nook and cranny. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us live from Kuwait with more on that story. Hello, Sanjay.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon from Kuwait there, Miles. There are some dangers out here. I think they surprise a lot of the soldiers. They found some dangers lurking outside their barracks, not bullets or bombs, but rather some creatures that are much more ancient dangers and possibly just as deadly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is this thing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a viper.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said there was two outside our door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you going to do differently?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to -- I don't remember one thing about (UNINTELLIGIBLE), that's number one, and a -- don't be leaving food trays everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it alive? Oh, no, it's not alive, but no, you had to shake out your shoes, you had to shake your sleeping bag, had to shake out everything prior to putting it on, because you never know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: You never do know. But there are things that we know that are different than the old wives' tales we've heard so much about. Don't cut a wound if you've just been bitten by a snake or a scorpion, don't suck on it. That's another common old wives' tale. Don't use a tourniquet and don't put ice on it. Those things don't help. Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: All right, well, those are the don'ts. What are the dos, doctor? GUPTA: Well, one of the things, I guess, probably not surprising is most people experience terror when first being bit by a snake or scorpion. Calm yourself down, if you can. Easier said than done, perhaps. But certainly anything you can do to prevent the blood from rushing from that bite to the rest of your body is a good thing. Sometimes even splinting the limb, actually immobilizing the limb sometimes helps as well.

There are medications to try and reverse the effects, anti- venoms, both for snake bites and scorpion bites. Before you get to the hospital, though, however, sometimes you limb may actually swell, so do remove all jewelry and don't put any kind of tourniquet on there.

Usually most people do quite well. Interestingly, the most common people who are bitten are actually men, between the ages of 17 and 27, although they're also the most likely to survive a snake or a scorpion bite. Children and the elderly are most susceptible to actually dying from one -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: And usually the last words before they get bitten are, watch this. Quickly, why no tourniquet? You would think that would make sense to isolate the bite area.

GUPTA: That's right. One of the big concerns, actually, from these bites is that the skin surrounding the bite might actually die or necrose. And if you actually put a tourniquet on that, apparently that seems to facilitate that dying or necrosing of the skin. They've found that it's just not that effective to put a tourniquet on there. It's better to try to immobilize the limb and get the person to a hospital where the anti-venoms can be administered. That's sort of the goal, the key.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta in Kuwait City, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com