Snakebit

September 11, 2001, was a really bad day to get a lethal snakebite in Myanmar and need an air evacuation.  Now there's a new first-aid treatment for neurotoxin-type snake venom that was inspired in part by one unfortunate scientist's experience.  The treatment doesn't break down the venom directly, but it helps you live with it a bit longer while you get to  a hospital or your body breaks down the venom naturally:

Most neurotoxins work by attacking the neuromuscular junction – the regions between the nerves and the muscles that trigger the muscles to move when the brain signals them. They do this by blocking an essential neurotransmitter – acetylcholine – from passing from the nerve to the muscle, telling it to move. The result is paralysis, even in the crucial lung muscles. . . . 

A patient in this predicament needs antivenom, a molecule that deactivates the venom directly. Neostigmine cannot do this, but can allow what little acetylcholine is able to get past the venom to move freely. And in an emergency, you need every second.

Rattlesnake vaccine is good, too, though it's available only for dogs and horses, not people.  It's not expensive, and most of the time it converts a real medical nightmare into a minor inconvenience.