Feb. 24, 2023 The Ohio State Highway Patrol received an urgent and unusual request in October: Get antivenom from the Toledo Zoo to an Indiana hospital to save the life of a snakebite victim.
Source officer.com News
Law enforcement officers in Ohio and Indiana were part of a lifesaving relay when they were called on to get much-needed antivenom to a snake-bite victim late last year.
The incident happened Oct. 13 when IU Health in Indiana contacted the Ohio State Highway Patrol with a unique and urgent request, the agency stated in an online post Thursday. A patient with the health network had suffered a snake bite and needed antivenom from the Toledo Zoo.
Once the call was received, a trooper was sent to the zoo for the antivenom, which was put in a cooler with ice packs and frozen vegetable to keep it cold, WOIO-TV reports. Dashboard camera footage then captured the trooper racing to the Ohio-Indiana border.
That’s when the antivenom was passed off to an Allen County sheriff’s deputy, who continued the medical relay. The deputy, along with help from the Indiana State Police, then got the medication to IU Health.
Finally, the antivenom was administered to the patient, whose life was saved.