Current practice advises not washing the affected body part so that medical personnel can sample venom residue on the skin to determine which type of snake was involved.
Wide access to antivenom and adequate medical care has made deaths exceedingly rare with only a few fatalities each year.
Of 28 deaths in the 1945-1949 period, 18 occurred in Queensland, 6 in New South Wales, 3 in Western Australia and 1 in Tasmania.
[4] In 2017, the World Health Organization added snakebite envenoming to their list of Neglected tropical diseases, requesting the cooperation of antivenom agencies worldwide.
[8] A Queensland Government occupational health publication says that "Snakes are not usually aggressive and do not seek confrontation with humans but may retaliate if provoked.