On the 5th of January 2021 a group of eight club members (Stephen, Greta, Sammy, Patrick, Sarah, Ash, Ava and Christian) decided to go on a six day hiking trip in Kosciusko National Park. What started as a normal club trip (plz note this was not a club organised trip) we had visits to the big merino and one car running two hours late as well as an exec meeting conducted in the Bredbo Inn. Upon reaching the Charlotte Pass car park on the 6th there was the usual amount of faff; Pat was roasted for packing jars of items, bags were repacked etc. and we all began the mental preparation of carrying in 5 nights worth of food. This is where things started going a bit pear shaped. Sarah who was at the time waiting for the worlds stinkiest drop toilet to become free could feel an itching inside her jacket. This itch evolved into full blown terror upon realizing it was in fact a spider inside her jacket (later identified as a Sydney Funnel Web). The spider managed to escape, Sarah however noticed her arm was already starting to swell, quick thinking by Greta and Sammy meant she had a compression bandage on her arm almost instantly (Sammy was later complemented by the staff in Cooma Hospital for her excellent compression bandaging).
Sarah getting all wrapped up 
The culprit behind the bite sitting on Sarah's jacket
This is where we learnt our first lesson - the club first aid kit didn't have a compression bandage in it. Luckily Ava and Stephen carried them but a compression bandage should be in those kits so make sure you check them before you take them and if you use anything that you replace it.
Our second lesson - we should all download the Australian Bites and Stings App initially we weren't 100% certain if it was a Funnel Web, the app on Stephen's phone confirmed it.
Our third lesson - although Sarah seemed systemically well we all agreed we should have gone straight to Jindabyne instead of going to the national parks ranger for help (however she did tell us which medical centre was the best one to attend and overall this probably added about 5-10 minutes).
After spending about an hour at the medical centre Sarah and Pat went by ambulance to Cooma Hospital where they then took the compression bandage off her and observed her for two hours. Thankfully she wasn't envenomated although apparently having a compression bandage on for nearly 4 hours is absolutely excruciating. Stephen picked them up that evening and like the trooper she is Sarah went on to do the hiking trip with the rest of us and we all had an awesome time. Kozi is one of those places where it is 2 degrees at 7am and you're getting sunburnt, you're surrounded by funnel web nests, you then go for a hike, have a snowball fight before going for a dip in Blue Lake and by 4pm it's 26 degrees and your floating in a stream surrounded by wildflowers, it's a pretty good place to be. Please enjoy the below before and the after photos of five days of hiking/camping!
Here are somethings we thought everyone should know after our trip:
You should use a compression bandage when you suspect a bite from any of the following:
- Australian land or sea snake
- Funnel Web and related Big Black Spiders
- Blue Ringed Octopus
- Cone Snails
How to wrap a compression bandage:
This youtube video covers everything really well. In Sarah's situation we didn't use the crepe bandage as she wasn't bleeding and since we were in quite a remote location we wanted the compression bandage on ASAP. If you DON'T have a compression bandage according to the QLD Government website Crepe bandages are ideal, but any flexible material may be used. Clothing, towels etc may be torn into strips and panty hose have been successfully used.
Signs and symptoms of a Funnel Web Bite:
Symptoms of funnel web spider bite include tingling sensations around the lips, sweating, nausea, vomiting, headache and high blood pressure and, in serious cases, fluid in the lungs and unconsciousness.