The timing was perfect.
As an emergency page was sent over the airwaves about a problem on Big Horn Lake near Devil’s Canyon, National Park Service Ranger Jessica Korhut was already at the Horseshoe Bend boat dock. As those involved raced by boat to Horseshoe bend, she stood by, not knowing what the problem was until the young boy – Ethan Crawford -- was brought to the dock with a rattlesnake bite. 
Korhut helped administer treatment along with Ethan’s mother Jodi Winland and others at the scene until an ambulance arrived about 17 minutes after the page went out, she said.
“It was not a fun experience,” Korhut said. “I was really scared. Personally, as an EMT, I’ve never seen anything like it; it looked like he was in bad shape. I’m glad it went ok.”
Time is the crucial element for a poisonous snakebite, she said, and physical exertion can move the venom more quickly through the body. Getting to a hospital for anti-venom is important to recovery.
Korhut said she has noticed an increase in rattlesnakes present in the Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area throughout the summer and said she has had more encounters with snakes around Big Horn Lake than ever.
“The higher water pushes snakes out of the rocks and into a condensed area,” she said.
Snakes are nocturnal hunters and will be more active in the mornings and evenings, she said, and bites usually occur if a snake is startled or surprised or heckled, she said.
To avoid snakes, Korhut said it is important to listen and to freeze immediately if a rattle is heard, and then identify the location of the snake before moving away from it. Jumping backwards right away could land you right on top of the snake, she said.
If bitten, Korhut said to call 911 immediately or get to a place where there is cell phone service or a land line phone, such as a boat dock.
It is best not to attempt to suck venom from the bite, cut near the bite or put a tourniquet on. Try to exert as little energy as possible while walking with a bite and keep the bitten area below the heart, she said. It is also helpful for doctors to know as accurately as possible the time the bite occurred.
The snake was a prairie rattlesnake, she said, the only venomous snake in BHCNRA.
She said the quick response and hard work of everyone involved made the potentially deadly situation turn out all right.
“For as bad as it was, I don’t think it could’ve gone any better,” she said.  “It’s nice to know we live in a community where the people are so willing to help.”