To identify these and other sensitive patients, hospitals typically obtain a record of the victim's experience with snakebites or horse products. But some people with no history of such exposures may have become sensitive through contact with horses, or possibly exposure to horse dander, and not know they are sensitive. Others may be sensitive without any known or remembered contact with horses. So hospitals also perform a skin test that quickly shows any sensitivity. Some hypersensitive patients may even react severely to the small amount of antivenin used in the skin test.
Hospitals have procedures for reviving patients with serious reactions.
Some victims with positive skin tests can be desensitized by gradually administering small amounts of antivenin. Newer kinds of antivenins derived from sheep are under study now and show some promise, according to FDA officials. But progress has been slow due to low demand and the small number of venomous bites a year. Certain venomous snakebites may be treated without using antivenin. This is usually a judgment call the doctor makes based on the snake's size and other factors, which normally involves close monitoring of patients in a medical facility.