Mariela López reported that her son died slowly, due to not being able to locate the antivenom serum. They made contact with Major Luis Contreras of the INEA firefighters in Maracaibo, who had several doses, but could not bring them because he did not have transportation.
The 13-year-old kid was bitten in the leg, last Tuesday, October 20, 2020, in the morning by a "terciopleo snake" near his home in Santa Cruz de Bucaral, Falcón state, Venezuela Photo: Courtesy EU - Source: elpitazo.net
In the early morning of this Wednesday, October 21, the child José Miguel Loyo López, 13 years old, died in the intensive care unit of the Coro Hospital, who was admitted with a snake bite, last Tuesday night and whose relatives waited for a dose of antivenom serum that never arrived, because the person who would bring it from Maracaibo could not get transportation, in order to save his life.
Immediately, according to the José Miguel's mother, he was traslated to the outpatient clinic, and there the personnel informed them that they did not have the antivenom, for which he had to be transferred to the Alfredo Grieken university hospital in Coro. that he didn't have a single dose of the antidote either.
In less than 12 hours the boy passed away. Mariela related that her son died slowly. We couldn't locate the antivenom serum. We toured the Coro pharmacies, we communicated with Major Luis Contreras of the marine firefighters of the National Institute of Aquatic Spaces (INEA) in Maracaibo, an expert in snake bites and who had several doses, as he informed them, but he could never arrive because He had a way of going to Coro, said Mrs. López.
Major Contreras himself explained through a WhatsApp message that he went to the GNB Bolivarian National Guard post on the Bridge over the Maracaibo lake, to ask for a ride, but they truckers refused, claiming that their bosses were forbidden to stop or give rides; without taking into account that he was in uniform.
It was very difficult to get a ride, Contreras woke up on the bridge waiting to find someone to transfer him to Coro, without being able to arrive until this Wednesday.
Timely delivery of antivenom doses could make the difference in saving the lives of snakebite patients in a hospital.
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