Orissa police personnel taught how to tackle snakes

Bhubaneswar, July 22 (ANI): The Bhubaneswar-based Snake Helpline Group recently organised an awareness workshop for Orissa police personnel about snakes and snake bites.

Police personnel both men and women, were trained in tackling snakes while in the fields or in dense forests.

They were taught how to catch snakes and how to administer first aid in the event of a snake-bites.t the outset, they were taught how to identify venomous and non-poisonous snakes, different types of snake bites and resultant symptoms.

Danger from snake bites and the toxicity of venom which a snake injects into its victim and how it varies from species to species were among the topics explained at this programme.

Cobras, white belly mangrove snakes, albino kraits and rat snakes were used for the demonstration.

"They were taught various methods which could save their life from snake bites during a situation when the distance between the jungle and hospital is at least one hour," said Suvendu Mallik of Snake Helpline, Bhubaneswar.

Although, initially the participating police personnel were scared and hesitant to touch a snake, as the programme progressed, the fears seemed to have vanished and at the end of it all, many of them gathered ample courage to go closer to the reptiles.

"This will create awareness among the people that all snakes are not harmful and only 10 percent of them actually are. We should be aware of that and take precautions," said Ramakant, a police officer.

Often the police personnel in Orissa have to confront wild animals during their work and anti-Maoist operations in dense forests, particularly during the monsoon.

Thanks to this workshop, armed with basic knowledge about different reptiles, the police personnel would be able to tackle any odd situation in forests and elsewhere. (ANI)