Epi Pens

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

What if someone other than the first aider got their hands on it?

 

A first aider can’t give you so much as an aspirin, no pills lotions or potions. They can’t even administer your own medication.

 

not true, if the vic has an epi pen your taught in first aid how to administor it

[treequip]

not true, if the vic has an epi pen your taught in first aid how to administor it

 

They can assist you to administer it

[geoff]

I'm not qualified as a medic,& I'm not familiar with what a first aider can/cant do legaly.

 

If someone other than a first aider got their hands on it,like any medication,it could be misused,an epipen administers adrenolin.

 

If someone is in real trouble,I for one with no oficial training would help out to the best of my abilities,better that than lose a life, I have saved one life doing just that,and had a mate die whilst trying to keep him going,(I had no chance as it turned out).

I take the point that wrongly administered help/medication can have an adverse effect.

[Rob D]

Reading this thread I've thought about seeing about carrying one.

 

The posts against it seem to say its medics territory but don't give any reasons.

 

Are they dangerous? What are the side effects? What happens if you have not had a bad reaction but in error use it? Let's have some facts please!!

 

I appreciate severe reactions are rare but getting stung by something nasty could happen to anyone at anytime (even if you of course try to avoid it). And in this job you have a much greater chance than most.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

i think this thread itself indicates why epi pens are not dished out to every tom dick and harry.

[geoff]

Good post Rob,I googled to no avail,but it does seem you need to make sure you dont wap it in a vein,hence they sugest the top of the thigh between knee & hip,you need to hold it in for ten seconds too.

I can only imagine it would release the adrenilin int the system too fast if you hit a vein.

 

There are a lot of things 'you cant do' in this country,some with good reason others,well,debatable. In my opinion if someone knows the ins & outs of what they are doing in an emergency,then just do it & sod the air suckers who want to stand back from a situation.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Im allergic to lawsons cypress, have been in hospital, but I dont carry a pen.

[geoff]

i think this thread itself indicates why epi pens are not dished out to every tom dick and harry.

 

Why is that then,it gives no specific reason,and I agree with you mate they should not be dished out willy nilly,but a trained person in a team whou can recognise ana shock in our context..man get stung,man gets a rash,shortness of breath,tight/pain in chest/puffy lips/face,pins & needles etc.

The epipen is designed to be used by non medical people,side effects apear minimal.

 

So I challenge why,no wishy washy,but why not in a medical context let the main person in charge have one in his armoury to assist in emergency,it may be their is a very good reason so lets hear it(other than your not allowed).

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

a good dose of anti histimine will do the job in 99% of the instances.

[pgkevet]

Shoving adrenaline into someone is not a trivial thing to do. Just remember your body's reactions last time someone crept up behind you and went 'boo'.

If you're going to start carrying emergency meds then oxygen would be first on my list..but the fire hazard is real. Second would be intravenous fluids..but again it takes some practice to set that up. How about adder bites on the way to the tree? A defib in the truck too?

 

Actually it would be nice for folk to be trained in the above- perhaps more for general skill on the way to and from work and in their neighbourhood..

 

As for H&S.. well even hospital A&E departments have to have the green box!

 

I had a stupid conversation with an H&S inspector in my early days..they came to the surgery to look around and demanded where my first aid box was. "You're standing in it"..didn't go down well. And when they demanded to know where the triangular bandage was they weren't impressed with a drawer full of splints, cast materials and several dozen rolls of different bandages..or that local A&E is 10 mins away.

 

They also focused on the 'toilet duck' in the public loo we had "In case a customer drank it" - my answer to that went down like a lead balloon too. "If they're that stupid then good riddance"