ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST >> Rescuers rushed a woman to the hospital Saturday after she was bit by a rattlesnake while hiking near the Bridge to Nowhere in the Angeles National Forest, authorities said.
Officials received a call reporting the snake bite shortly before 10 a.m. from someone at the Bridge to Nowhere, along the East Fork of the San Gabriel River north of San Dimas, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Andy Berg said.
The caller reported a woman had been bit by a rattlesnake about half a mile south of the bridge, the lieutenant said.
The sheriff’s San Dimas Search and Rescue Team headed up to help, but Los Angeles County firefighters reached the victim first via helicopter, Berg said.
She was taken to Huntington Hospital in Pasadena for treatment.
An update on the woman’s condition was not available, Berg said, however rattlesnake bite victims generally respond well to prompt treatment with anti-venin.
The bite occurred adjacent to a portion of the forest known as Rattlesnake Canyon.
Experts have cautioned that the severe and prolonged drought California is experiencing could increase encounters between people and the venomous reptiles.
If bitten, Berg said the ideal course of action is for the victim to call for help and remain still.
“The first thing to do if bitten is to stay calm,” according to a fact sheet published by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Get to a doctor as soon as possible, but stay calm. Frenetic, high-speed driving places the victim at greater risk of an accident and increased heart rate. If the doctor is more than 30 minutes away, keep the bite below the heart, and then try to get to the doctor as quickly as possible.”