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Suspected rattlesnake bite sends Kamloops woman to hospital

The woman was bitten in a wooded area at the entrance to Cooney Bay
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The western rattlesnake. Image: KTW

-Kamloops This Week

A woman is recovering from a suspected rattlesnake bite after an apparent encounter near Kamloops Lake.

Paramedics were dispatched at about noon on Tuesday for a report of an adult woman suffering a snake bite, Emergency Health Services spokesperson Shannon Miller confirmed to KTW.

She said an advanced-care paramedic unit met the patient — who was in an incoming vehicle driven by another person — near Aviation Way and Tranquille Road in Brocklehurst, where she was cared for and transported to Royal Inland Hospital in stable condition.

Miller did not have specifics of where the incident took place or where on the body the bite occurred.

A social media post indicated the woman was bitten in a wooded area at the entrance to Cooney Bay, which is a makeshift, dirt parking lot. Cooney Bay is about nine kilometres west of Aviation Way.

The post stated the woman is recovering in hospital and in good spirits.

Rattlesnake bites are fairly rare in B.C. as, according to WildSafeBC, typically less than five people per year are bitten. Bites are rarely fatal if treated promptly.

Miller said the ambulance departed for RIH without lights and sirens, which indicates the transport was not as urgent as some other calls.

READ MORE: Kamloops man charged in connection with death of Alberta man

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