POWELL COUNTY, Ky. — In May, James Harrison, director of the Kentucky Reptile Zoo, was bitten by a highly venomous Jameson’s mamba while working. Harrison received antivenom and spent several days recovering in the ICU. The first responders who assisted with the antivenom administration are now under scrutiny.
“I’ll be honest with you, I think it’s ridiculous,” Powell County Judge-Executive Eddie Barnes told WKYT.
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Barnes said he and another EMS worker responded after Harrison was bitten and were urged to administer antivenom immediately, with warnings that delay could progress from paralysis to respiratory arrest to cardiac arrest and death. Unable to reach their EMS director, the crew consulted medical staff at Clark Regional Medical Center.
While awaiting helicopter transport to UK Hospital, they administered the antivenom.
Medical professionals who reviewed the case said the responders acted appropriately and likely saved his life. The Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services sees it differently.
Barnes later learned the board changed its policy two years ago to allow only wilderness paramedics to administer antivenom. He and other EMS providers now face a hearing on Sept. 30 to argue for keeping their licenses.
