Dr. Balentine received his undergraduate degree from McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. He attended medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine graduating in1983. He completed his internship at St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia and his Emergency Medicine residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx, where he served as chief resident.
Many different types of animals ranging from dogs, cats, hamsters, raccoons, ferrets, and squirrels can bite adults and children. Many times, bites are from the family pet. The latest data from the American Association of Poison Control Center's Annual Report of 2010 reported 94,823 animal exposure reports to the poison control center. Ninety percent
were attributed to dogs. Animal exposures following in decreasing order by are cat, horse, rodent, cow, sheep/goat, and aquatic. The true numbers are difficult to know as not all cases are reported.
Most states require that animal bites be reported, therefore, the person
bitten will be asked to fill out a form with information about the bite or asked specific questions for reporting purposes
when medical care is sought. Aside from simple data collection, this can be important in cases of
rabies cases to help officials track location(s) and monitor a possible spread of the disease.
Animal Bite Causes
Animal bites usually are either provoked or unprovoked. A provoked bite would occur if
a person teases a dog or tries to take away the dog's food while the dog is eating. An unprovoked bite may occur if
the person are sitting in their backyard and a raccoon runs out of the woods and attacks
them for no known reason. A stray dog that approaches a person and begins to bite
them would be considered unprovoked. This type of information is very important to health care
professional taking care of the bite beside in certain animal species "unprovoked" bites can be a sign or indicator that the animal has rabies and needs to be either captured, quarantined or very closely monitored.
Animal Bite First Aid
First aid should consist of getting away from the animal to a safe area.
Next, apply pressure on the areas that are bleeding, and activate the 911 system or going to an
emergency department if the injury requires care.
Children: Among children, the rate of dog bite-related injuries is highest for those ages 5 to 9 years, and children are more likely than adults to receive medical attention for dog bites than adults. Recent research shows that the rate of dog-bite related injuries among children seems to be decreasing.
Adult Males: Among adults, males are more likely than females to be bitten.
People with dogs in their homes: Among children and adults, having a dog in the household is associated with a higher incidence of dog bites. As the number of dogs in the home increases, so does the incidence of dog bites. Adults with two or more dogs in the household are five times more likely to be bitten than those living without dogs at home.