First-aid treatment of poisonous snakebite: are currently recommended procedures justified?

A survey of the literature on first-aid treatments for poisonous snakebite reveals conflicting recommendations. A subsequent review of experiments and case surveys investigating such treatments indicates that the most commonly recommended procedures (incision and suction, ligation, and ice-packing of the bite) are not well supported by experimental evidence, and may possibly be harmful. We suggest that further clinical research and case studies are necessary in order to determine safe and effective first-aid procedures for the bites of American poisonous snakes.