Floods, snakes & spiders – how to avoid the triple threat...

When heavy rain comes, whatever the time of year, flooding can follow.,

If you have flooding around your home, near where you work, where the kids go to school, there are some simple rules you should follow to make sure you don't end up needing first aid yourself.

At Results First Aid Training, we completely endorse the advice of the SES (State Emergency Service) that you should NEVER try to drive through, or walk through floodwaters – no matter how shallow or still the water may look.

The reason is, you never know what could lie underneath those floodwaters – there could be fast moving water below that you cannot see from above. There could be potholes, tree branches or other hidden risks beneath the water. You and/or your car could get swept away suddenly and without warning.

So always stay well back from floodwaters and if you need to cross find a safe, high and dry point to cross over, or find a way to go around them. It is just not worth the risk.

If you are on foot near floodwaters there are other risks to watch out for, even if you don’t go into the floodwaters themselves.

There is an additional complication to look out for when it floods during hot weather. Spiders and snakes are always far more active during warm weather than when its cold. And just like you, they both don’t like floodwaters. They also don’t like their homes to be flooded either. So they will seek a safer, drier place, well away from the water. That means they could be in places where you don’t normally find them.

During summer flods, you might find snakes on much higher ground than you normally would, as they seek somewhere safer to live and nest. You could even find them in your home – hiding in the garage, under the house or even up in the roof. The same is true of spiders.

Normally most snakes and spiders are not aggressive and will not attack you unless they feel threatened or they are protecting their young. But wet, confused and soggy snakes and spiders can be a lot more stressed than normal, leading them to be potentially more aggressive. (You’d be upset if your house was flooded in the middle of the night and so are they!)

So just be a little more cautious than normal if you live in close proximity to flooded areas. And be a little more watchful when you go out walking. Or are in the garage giving it a bit of a cleanout.

If you want to brush up on some of your first aid knowledge, please have a look through the following posts.

For information on treating someone who got caught in floodwaters, read our post on saving someone from drowning - https://www.resultsfirstaid.com/post/how-to-save-a-child-from-drowning-with-cpr

If you want to know how to treat a snake bite please read our post at https://www.resultsfirstaid.com/post/how-to-treat-a-snake-bite

But for real up to date first aid knowledge, book your first aid training at https://www.resultsfirstaid.com/courses