UNC Health doctor, part of ‘Survivor’ medical team, helped contestant bitten by snake

LUMBERTON, N.C. (WNCN) — When a venomous snake bit a contestant on this season of “Survivor,” fans held their breath while the show’s medical team jumped into action. One of the doctors who helped that contestant is an emergency room doctor right here in North Carolina.

On Episode 3 of “Survivor” Season 49, which aired in October, a highly venomous black and white sea snake bites contestant Jake Latimer, sending the show’s medical team rushing in to help.

One of the doctors on that team is Sarah Spelsberg, who knew right away a bite from this type of snake, a sea krait, could be deadly. Dr. Spelsberg has practiced medicine all over the globe.

“Anytime I’m going somewhere on expedition, whether it’s Aconcagua in South America to the mountains, I kind of google or research what can kill you there,” Spelsberg explained. “The first thing that came up when I googled, ‘What can kill someone in Fiji?’ was this sea krait snake.”

Dr. Spelsberg is the Director of U.S. Operations for World Extreme Medicine. She’s worked in various medical roles throughout her career, as a search and rescue paramedic, a physician assistant, and now, a doctor.

“I also spent a good chunk of my career out in the Aleutian Islands where they film ‘Deadliest Catch,’ and out there you’re it,” she said. “You have to ride with the patient in the back of a C-130.”

Spelsberg loves wilderness medicine, but she doesn’t always work in remote areas; she’s also an emergency medicine resident at UNC Health Southeastern in Lumberton, and she says the are more similarities than you might think .

“I’ve seen as many snake bites here at UNC Health Southeastern — copperheads and coral snakes — as I have anywhere,” she noted.  

In the wilderness or the ER, the goal is the same.

“It’s the same thing when we get somebody who’s had a terrible surfing accident, or they fell and you’re afraid they broke their neck out in the middle of nowhere, they’ve had a crush injury on a ‘Deadliest Catch’ fleet boat, whatever. It’s adrenaline, but it’s also a rush of optimism,” she explained. “We have a chance to help somebody. Something terrible happened, and maybe we can fix it or at least make it a little bit better.”

When the medical team on “Survivor” learned of the snake bite, they were ready to respond, first checking to make sure the contestant was breathing, then putting a splint on his leg. Spelsberg said the team knew there was about a 50% chance that the snake injected venom, and even when they suspected it was a “dry bite,” without venom, they continued to take precautions.

“We carried him because you don’t want them to be too active,” she said. “Because what if he did get a little bit of venom? Then you’re spreading it through his lymph system all the way through his body.”

Fortunately in this case, the snake did not inject venom, but Dr. Spelsberg says the team is prepared for any emergency.

“I would pit us against any team I’ve ever been on, honestly,” she said. “We can run a code; we can turn ourselves into an ICU. We can intubate you; we can shock you. We can give you medicines.

“We can do everything we do in the trauma [resuscitation] bay, everything we do in the ICU, on a beach. We have, and we did.”

“Survivor” airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. on CBS 17.