Viper Snake Bite Prompts Scramble for Antidote

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sabah Newspaper, 21 May 2020)


Recovering Bektaş shows picture of prime suspect (now 
deceased).

Mustafa Bektaş (18) lives in Ağaçöven village, 10 kilometers away
from Kığı district center in northwestern Bingöl province. On 17
May, Bektaş, who is studying music at Elazığ Karakaya Fine Arts
High School, was bitten by an 'engerek'  (viper) snake as he was
grazing his animals. 

Bektaş was taken to the local hospital, then to Bingöl city and,
subsequently, to Atatürk University Yakutiye Research Hospital in
Erzurum, where doctors scrambled to find an antidote for the
poisonous snake bite. 

When an antidote couldn't be found nearby, the doctors learned from
the Health Directorate that the vehicle that distributes antidotes to
hospitals was currently in Sivas.  So 'Erzurum 112' (like '911') asked
'Erzincan 112' to go to Sivas, get the antidote and bring it to Erzurum.
Once in Erzurum, a waiting ambulance rushed the antidote to the
hospital, where doctors administered the antidote to Bektaş.

The search for the antidote took six hours. Bektaş is currently
recovering in Yakutiye Hospital.




Bingöl is at center of map, with Erzurum, Erzincan and Sivas
to its north, from right to left.