For medical professionals, could Steve Irwin have had a chance to survive if he didn't pull out the barb?

Question

I'm sure the pain must have been excruciating, causing him to want to pull out the stingray's barb. In your professional opinion,
did he have a chance to live without removing that barb?
Or, was it all over once he was stabbed in the heart and venom was introduced? My question is sincere and compassionate. Please, only qualified persons reply. Unfortunately, we have some sicko people around who enjoy other's misfortune.
He was a decent man and husband and father.

Answer 1

We weren't there. However the general rule is if you have been stabbed by anything, leave it in place and let a medical doctor remove it.

He didn't die from the venom of the Stingray. The stingray venom is NOT fatal. It hurts and stings like hell, but won't kill. He died from blood loss. The stinger went right into his heart. He pulled it out and there goes all the blood with every pulse of the heart.

Would he have lived? He would have lived longer but how long is up for guessing. They had to wait for medical evacuation regardless of his condition. But if the stinger formed a plug in the heart and the heart was able to work properly, yes he could have made it.

But it could have pierced the walls inside his heart between his atriums or ventricles thereby stopping efficient function.

It is a shame that a young man who is a father and husband dies in this accidental, silly manner. But we cannot control nature - only respect it.

So the learning is - leave a stab weapon in place until medical help is reached.

We all miss him.

Answer 2

I am not a professional. I have emergency medical training, but not a pro. I do believe that the survival instinct is what made Steve pull that barb out. I think that for a split second he thought he could pull it out and carry the ray up to the boat with him and it would be another great Irwin moment. I think at the same time he knew NOT to pull it out, but his hand was quicker than his mind this time and it all happened too fast. I think he could have had a chance at a longer life had he not pulled the barb out. But then, I have to question, would he have been happy in the boat on the way back to shore and then in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and then possibly die? No way, I like to think that he died doing what he loved to do. I always expected to hear that his arm was bitten off at the shoulder by a croc or that the anti-venom he used on some crazy poisionous snake hunt didn't last unil they got him to a hospital. Never did I expect him to go by such a freak accident. It has been almost 1 week and I have tears in my eyes writing this. I was in shock for the first two days. I just thought it was a mistake and we would find out that he had made it and was OK. Watching all the dedications and reruns of his past interviews on Animal Planet this week has torn me up. He was a true hero and every childs "Superman". What a conservationist! He was truley amazing. It's sad that you don't know the real person and everything that he was about until he's gone.I've learned more about him in the last week than I ever knew. Tears streaming down my face now thinking of Bindy and Bob. What a hero!

Answer 3

I'm not a medical professional but I would like to put in my two bobs worth.
Does it really matter? We can't change history. I'm not an expert but I have read that the fact that the stinger went straight to the heart there was nothing that could be done. If it had been anywhere else perhaps he would still be with us. I guess it was Steve's time to go. The really good thing is that all his work, while he was alive, was not in vain and it is continuing bigger and better today. His death has made everyone aware of what he was about and hopefully our children will take on the passion he had for wildlife and appreciate our wonderful world for all the good and bad in it.

Answer 4

I was wondering that, too. Often when people are stabbed or impaled by something you aren't supposed to pull out the object. I've read that the venom of a stingray isn't that bad; but straight to the heart, I don't know.
It was such a bizarre thing to happen--it's almost like he was meant to go in a wildlife interaction.

Answer 5

Maybe. I have not seen an autopsy report or synopsis. Stingray venom is rarely fatal, but it is rarely introduced directly into the heart. There may have been time to get him to a hospital.

Still, as a general rule, if there's something sticking out of your chest, let a doctor in a proper facility remove it.

Answer 6

At this aspect it truly is not attainable to assert for particular. in all probability he might want to have died interior of a couple of minutes if he hadn't pulled it out, because the spines are lined in poison and poison right now despatched to the middle will kill very immediately. there's a really very very small risk that if he replaced into rushed to the right clinical institution he may have survived yet he replaced into too some distance remote from any hospitals. that's largely too undesirable that he did not get to assert see you later to his kin.

Answer 7

I don't think he would have. Maybe if the barb had went somewhere other than his heart he might have stood a chance. But pulling it out caused the most damage by ripping his skin. I feel bad for his family and friends.

Answer 8

Not with the venom being induced straight in to the heart like that.
If he would have had a heart surgeon and team there, along with an antivenom... which isn't going to happen realistically, then maybe he had a chance...
But it really didn't matter removing or not removing the barb....
I felt sick when I heard how he died, but at least he died doing what he truely loved.

Answer 9

Some excellant answers with which I tend to agree. I was saddened to hear of the worlds loss as well. He did teach a lot of people about conservation and about creatures not many people would have had interest to know about. It's a shame he was taken in his prime, but one thing I have learned being in the medical field, when it's your time to go, you're going no matter what..and if it's not, you're not, no matter what. my heart and prayers go out to his family.

Answer 10

You know, I agree with you about Steve Irwin! He was awesome! I cried when I got the news. It was strange and sudden. As to your question, I would have to see the results of the autopsy to answer that. More than likely, because of the poison, he had no chance.