SEE HOW SEASONED NURSE SAVED DAUGHTER'S LIFE AFTER SNAKE BITE DURING CAMPING TRIP

PHOTO Emma Kiley recovers in hospital after an encounter with a snake while camping.Her dad Brendan Kiley's photo above her's.

A flash of movement in the bush, a lightning flick of a tail and a sharp sting to the leg — suddenly five-year-old Emma Kiley is in real danger.

What had been an idyllic camping ground near Mudgee suddenly becomes an eerily isolated bush setting with no mobile phone coverage and no way of contacting emergency services.

The potentially deadly bite of a snake changes everything in an instant.

Luckily for Emma, her father is a seasoned flight nurse with the iconic Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), based in nearby Dubbo.

Brendan Kiley has years of experience in emergency first aid with the RFDS, bringing medical services to isolated communities across western NSW.

He and his team treat numerous snakebites each summer. But when the patient is your daughter?

"That is when the pressure really goes on," he said.

"It is one thing to know the information, to be a professional, but when the patient is your own child, then it is different.

"There were a whole lot of challenges in that setting which we are not unaccustomed to.

"But when you see your daughter lying on a swag, bleeding from the ankle and you need to render first aid, it's tough.

"I had a very good first aid kit, and I obviously had the skill set, but we didn't have telephone reception and we couldn't summon help.

"So we had to get her to hospital ourselves."

It was then that the years of training kicked in and Mr Kiley went into first responder mode.

The most important thing was to keep his patient calm and still.

He looked his daughter in the eye and said, "We've got this Emma."

He reached for his first aid kit and carefully and firmly bandaged her leg, first from the bite wound down to the toes, then back up the leg to her thigh.

This was to stop any venom that might be present from spreading through the lymphatic system.

The next step was to put a splint on the leg to keep it immobilised, to minimise the spread of venom.

Then it was all about getting her to the nearest medical care as quickly and safely as possible.

Removing the tent from the side of the family car would have taken up valuable time, so Mr Kiley borrowed his friend's car for the trip to the local emergency ward.

He said it was an exercise in doing everything as efficiently, calmly and safely as possible.

Nurse confident, but father stressed

As a seasoned and experienced flight nurse, Mr Kiley said he was calm and confident he had all his bases covered.

But, as a father, he was very stressed and worried.

"And all the time, Emma was so quiet," he said.

"She is normally a talkative little person, but she was sitting there with huge eyes, taking it all in.

"She seemed quite calm, like she had faith that I knew what I was doing, but she was just so quiet."

They made it to Mudgee Hospital safely, Emma was admitted for observation, and her father stayed with her on the ward.

It all turned out fine in the end, with no adverse outcomes.

"But it really brought it home to me just how frightening it can be when you have to cope with a snakebite, especially when you are isolated," Mr Kiley said.

"I am lucky that I have the training and experience that I have.

"I am normally seeing it all from the professional perspective, but it is different when it is your own child.

"I am just so glad that I had a comprehensive first aid kit in our car."