What should you do if you're bitten by a venomous snake in Florida?

You’re more likely to get killed by lightning than by a Florida snake. Way more.

About seven people die from lightning in the state every year, according to the University of Florida, whereas some five people die from venomous snake bites annually in the entire U.S.

In Florida, the National Institutes of Health calculate the mortality rate from native Florida snake bites between zero and 0.01 percent annually. Does that mean you should go skipping barefoot through the scrub? No ‒ it just means that if you do get nailed by a venomous snake, you'll probably live, especially if you get antivenom.

(By the way; though you'll hear the term "poisonous snakes," calling them venomous is more accurate. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, creatures that bite or sting to inject toxins are venomous; ones that are poisonous are toxic when you eat or touch them, which means very few snakes are actually poisonous. One exception is the garter snake, which you shouldn't eat "because its body absorbs and stores the toxins of its prey." (Much as invasive Burmese pythons are in the news, they're not native and they squeeze their prey to death rather than injecting it with toxin.)

Here are five things to know about Southwest Florida’s venomous snakes:

Fewer than a handful of venomous snakes call Southwest Florida home

In Lee and Collier County, only four native species are venomous: eastern diamondbacks, pygmy rattlers, water moccasins (also called cottonmouths) and coral snakes. The first three are pit vipers – the “pit" referring to holes in their faces called Jacobson’s organs used to detect warm-blooded prey. Pit viper venom can damage blood vessels, prevent clotting and cause massive swelling. Coral snake venom is primarily neurotoxic and can cause paralysis, including of the diaphragm, which may stop breathing.

More: A look at the notorious cottonmouth and the lore that follows this common snake

More: Caught! Record-breaking 18-foot Burmese python pulled from Collier County wilderness

All four inject venom via front fangs, despite a common misconception that coral snake fangs are in back. But just because they can inject venom doesn't mean they always do. With rattlesnakes “dry bites” happen at least a quarter of the time. (Better to get to an E.R. to be sure, though.) Though many snakes will bite if surprised or cornered, if they're not venomous, the bites can be sanitized and treated as any puncture would.

You have a venomous snake bite. Now what?

Get to a hospital. Despite rumors of a shortage, antivenom is available and can be sent throughout the area quickly. The sooner treatment starts, the better, say two area snakebite experts, Timothy Dougherty, chair of Lee Health’s  Emergency Medicine department and Collier County emergency physician and toxin expert Ben Abo, whose globe-spanning resume includes overseeing the History Channel’s "Kings of Pain" series.

If it's a pit viper bite, expect swelling, Dougherty says. "The blood vessels will start to leak fluid and the swelling can be extreme. An arm can be two, three times the size (when) normal and it affects your ability to clot. Without antivenom, you run the risk of spontaneous bleeding, and not only at the site of the bite," he said. "You can get (gastrointestinal) bleeds, you can get intracranial bleeds. That’s why we have to treat these."

Even if you're deep in the Everglades, "You have a window of opportunity before things really start to swell," Dougherty said. "Immobilize the area with a sling or T-shirt, keep it above you heart and walk out."

Sooner is better – ideally within a couple of hours, Abo says, "but I’ve had to give antivenom a couple of days later, and it still works."

Don't waste time trying to catch or kill the snake, they both say, especially since snakes can still move reflexively even after they're dead, and another bite is possible.

Best way to avoid bites? No ‘Hold my beer’ moments with venomous snakes

Never mind what you’ve seen on YouTube, it’s never a good idea to snatch up a cottonmouth for a selfie. “Prevention is best. This not the time to go, ‘Oh, cool, let me get this for my Instagram,” Dougherty said. “And I will tell you, I’ve seen many people do that.”

Or, as Abo says, avoid negative encounters. “I’m not saying live in a bubble, but be careful. On one hand. You have snakes doing snake stuff, a human doing human stuff and where it overlaps, that’s where you have negative encounters.”

Those snakebite kits? They’re garbage, docs say

They do nothing, Dougherty and Abo say, unless you count “potentially make the situation worse,” Dougherty said. “Your best first aid is to call 911 as quickly as possible.” Even if you’re in the middle of nowhere, better to get to help as soon as possible without tourniquets or penknife slices. “When I see them in the store,” Abo says, “I have this mental battle: Do I buy them all off the shelves so no one else can buy it? But then I’d be supporting that company.”

The dos are simple: Seek medical care fast as you can; keep the bitten area as still as you can and over the heart if you can.

The don'ts: Don't carve or slash the skin near a bite; don't ice the bite and don't apply electricity ("There was one patient whose brother used a car battery. Electrocuted him," Abo said); don't use a tourniquet and definitely don’t fall for the old wives’ tale about being able to suck out the poison, "No matter how good-looking the person is," Abo said.

Be the better person: Don't persecute snakes

Wildlife in Florida has enough trouble already. There's no reason to do search-and-destroy missions on snakes, both doctors say, even though many humans have deep-seated fear of them. "Since the Bible we’ve vilified snakes (and) the misconception is that they’re just evil and out to get us," Abo says. "That's just not the case."

Not only do venomous snakes play a key role in our ever-shrinking natural places, biting people is not their purpose, according to the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation: "It takes a lot of energy to make venom."

Plus, nnakes need their venom to hunt prey, Abo says: "They will be defensive if they need to, but they don’t want to waste their venom on us."

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: What should you do if you're bitten by a venomous snake?