September 24, 2025
A school teacher bitten by a snake near Kilkivan is urging people to attend LifeFlight’s free trauma training workshops so people will know how to help in an emergency … like he was.
Chris Grehan was at a weekend bush camp about 12 months ago working as a cook when he felt something in the long grass brush against his ankle.
“I didn’t even look down, I thought it must have been a stick,” he said.
“I walked over to the group and pulled up a pew and sat down. The seat was quite low, so my knees were up, and I just happened to look down at my ankle and see blood trickling down.
“I wiped the blood away and saw two puncture wounds and thought, ‘that doesn’t look very good’.”
Camp facilitator and bushcraft expert Rick Petersen applied a snake bite bandage.
“I sat down straight away and immobilised myself. I knew it was a serious situation, but I had a pressure bandage on, and I was in good hands,” Mr Grehan said.
After the bandage was applied, the group contacted Triple Zero (000) and QAS paramedics were despatched from Murgon.
The paramedics checked Mr Grehan’s vitals and decided that due to the rugged terrain, it would be quicker and safer for him to be airlifted.
The Bundaberg-based LifeFlight helicopter crew was then called and airlifted Mr Grehan to Bundaberg Hospital.
“It was a dry bite, meaning that I wasn’t envenomated, but I didn’t know that at the time,” Mr Grehan said.
“The hospital staff told me the size of the bite, and the time of year indicated to them it was an eastern brown snake that bit me.”
Mr Grehan urged people to sign up for LifeFlight’s free trauma training workshops in the region.
“Queenslanders living in regional and remote parts of the State should take the time to do a workshop like First Minutes Matter,” he said.
“It offers the person who is injured reassurance, knowing they can be supported until emergency services can arrive.”
At the workshops, participants are taught practical skills to manage life-threatening events such as snake bites, car crashes, strokes and farming accidents.
LifeFlight senior regional medical educator Leah Harrison said people can take important steps to avoid feeling helpless in a medical emergency.
“In many accidents and medical incidents, first responder care is a key step in a patient’s journey,” Ms Harrison said.
“Efficient and effective care not only increases the chances of survival for these patients but improves recovery times and long-term health outcomes.
“That’s why these courses are so important. The workshops are free and if you can invest six hours of your time, that’s all it takes to learn the skills to save somebody’s life.”
- A First Minutes Matter workshop will be held at Cooyar Memorial Hall on October 18. Registrations can be made online
Excellent idea. Does anyone know if this course is available in Kingaroy? Snake season is coming on, and as for accidents, well, that’s why they are called accidents, you never know when they will happen! Handy to know what to do, because that one minute of action … may just save a life.
LifeFlight has been holding these courses around the region. There were courses in Kingaroy, Wondai and Yarraman in June.