ASSAM: In 2006, Dr Surajit Giri faced a moment that would shape the rest of his career. A woman bitten by a snake was rushed into emergency ward of a private hospital in Assam’s Sivasagar district, where Giri had just begun working after completing his post-graduation in anaesthesiology. He was not trained in treating snakebites, so he referred her to the Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh. She died on the way.
Though no one blamed him, the incident haunted him. “She had two children; they were inconsolable. I was helpless,” he recalls. “She had respiratory problems. Being a trained ICU physician, I could have kept her on ventilation, but I didn’t know what to do next. Antivenom was available, but I didn’t dare to administer it.”
Now, nearly two decades later, hospitals across Assam are saving snakebite victims, thanks to a treatment model pioneered by Dr Giri and his team at the Demow Rural Community Health Centre in Sivasagar, where he has worked since 2008.
After the woman’s death, Giri spent the next two years raising awareness about snakebite treatment, encouraging families to seek hospital care over traditional healers. He learned that most snakebite cases in Assam involved non-venomous snakes and that timely care could save lives.
Still, until 2017, the Demow hospital had not treated a single case – it lacked an ICU, and families continued to place trust in local quacks. “That year, a child bitten by a snake was brought dead to the hospital. A quack attempted to revive him just outside the facility, in full view of onlookers. That incident was a turning point,” he says. Giri resolved that rural hospitals needed to be equipped to treat snakebites.
In August 2018, the Demow health centre administered antivenom to a patient for the first time. Since then, Giri and his team have developed a comprehensive model that includes community engagement, early response, hospital preparedness and a trained medical network. A Fast Response Team of healthcare workers and a Venom Response Team of community volunteers were formed.
The volunteers were trained to recognise symptoms, provide basic care, and ensure patients reached the hospital swiftly. A helpline was set up, and a WhatsApp group was created for real-time coordination among doctors and health workers.
Between 2018 and now, the Demow health centre has treated 2,838 snakebite patients. Only one person died, having arrived too late. Since 2021, there has not been a single snakebite death recorded at the hospital, Giri says.
Encouraged by the success, Giri’s team began working with the Assam government to implement the model across the state. “There were over 150 deaths in 2022. It came down to 37 in 2023, 36 in 2024, and only two so far this year – both cases arrived late,” he says.
The team has conducted 510 awareness campaigns, trained 1,500 medical officers under the National Health Mission, and collaborated with snake rescuers, herpetologists, and researchers. The partnership yielded the first Assam-specific snakebite treatment protocol, adapted from national guidelines to suit the region’s unique ecology. “We came to know of the snake species found in Assam, their venom and its composition, symptoms of snakebite and amount of antivenom that needs to be administered,” the pioneer says.
Endorsed by the Assam government in November 2024, the treatment protocol accounts for the state’s six venomous snake species – Pit Viper, Monocled Cobra, Black Krait, Banded Krait, Red Necked Keelback, and Russell’s Viper. Giri’s team found that only 16% of snakebites in Assam are venomous, a stark contrast to the national figure of 30%.