A friend of mine is an EMT who does backwoods / mountain rescue stuff. Like myself, he's a bit of a misanthrope, so I think it's mostly for mercenary purposes (free skiing at Snowbird), but whatever. He has to take courses to stay current, and he relayed this little gem from the latest one. I call it the ninety-ninety-ninety-ninety rule. To wit:
- almost exactly 90% of all rattlesnake bite victims are male
- of those, about 90% are aged 17-24
- about 90% of those are legally intoxicated when chompage occurs
- around 90% are bitten in their primary hand or arm