AN elderly man is fighting for life after he was bitten by a large taipan that slithered into his Cairns home.

The man, aged in his 70s, was bitten by the highly venomous snake at his Yorkeys Knob home on Tuesday night.

Queensland Ambulance critical care flight paramedic Valerie Noble said the snake confronted the man in his loungeroom.

It is thought he attempted to shoo it away, or kill it with a spade, but the taipan was too quick.

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When the snake attacked, it shot venom into a vein, which made the man's health "deteriorate quite rapidly".

"It was almost an injection of the venom," Ms Noble said.

When she arrived with the anti-venom, there were already a critical care paramedic and two other ambulance crews on the scene performing CPR.

"Shortly after giving the anti-venom, we got a pulse back," she said.

"The patient is still quite fragile and quite critical".

More anti-venom was given to the man after he arrived at Cairns hospital.