General Snakebite FAQS
Snakebite kits, also called extraction or suction kits, should not be used.
Asclepius Snakebite Foundation provided this detailed blog explaining why venom extractors do not work and are potentially harmful. Please check out their article https://www.snakebitefoundation.org/blog/the-truth-about-commercial-snakebite-kits-including-the-venom-extractor.
Written by Dr. Spencer Greene
NSS does not recommend extraction devices. Not only are they a waste of money, they are HARMFUL. A number of us are involved in a public awareness campaign to get them off the market.
Extraction devices are not helpful in snake envenomation. They remove almost no venom following a bite (no more than 2% in one study). Certainly not a clinically significant amount.
Furthermore, there is good evidence that they are harmful. They can cause a negative pressure injury and, by preferentially removing interstitial fluid, these extraction devices could theoretically concentrate the venom.
These kits are good for one thing: profits for the people who manufacture and sell them. But they are certainly not beneficial to a snakebite victim.
Additional Resources
Snakebite suction devices don't remove venom: they just suck
Suction for venomous snakebite: a study of "mock venom" extraction in a human model