Odisha officers undergo special training to handle snake menace

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 6:

About 46 officers of Odisha Government yesterday underwent training to handle snakebite and related incidents during natural disasters.

The training bears significance given the large number of fatalities every year due to snakebite in the country.  As per India’s first national survey of the causes of death, ‘The Million Death Study’, undertaken between 2001 and 2003 by the Registrar General of India and the Centre for Global Health Research, about 46,000 people die because of snakebite in the country every year.

The incidents of snakebite go up especially during natural calamities like incessant rain, flood, cyclone and earthquake that affect the places where snakes live.

The program was arranged at the administrative center of Gopabandhu Academy to train officers on the possible challenges caused because of snakebite during disasters and the ways to address them.

Among the 46 trainees, there were field staffs such as doctors, engineers, field officers, CDPOs, Tehsildars etc. The training program was conducted by Suvendu Mallick, the Secretary of Snake Help Line.

The training covered areas like the identification of snake, methods to figure out if it is venomous, the need for first aid, the first aid procedure, management of control room in case of a crisis etc.