Chapter 18: Poisoning Flashcards
What are barbituates?
owners: depressants of the CNS. Includes barbiturates, tranquilizers (benzodiazepines), marijuana, and narcotics
Who are more likely to get ingested poisoning?
Children younger than 6
What medications are accountable for most of the poisoning?
Analgesics
Signs of Ingested Posioning
Abdominal pain & cramping, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, burns, odors, or stains around or inside the mouth, drowsiness or unresponsiveness, difficulty breathing, speaking or swallowing, seizure, poison container nearby
Treatment of Ingested Poisoning?
1.Try to determine:
a.Person’s age & weight
b.Person’s condition
c.What poison was swallowed
d.When the poison was taken
e.How much was taken
2.For an alert and awake person called Poison control hotline
3.Place person on their left side
4.Monitor breathing and if absent begin CPR
5.Do not come in contact with the person’s parts that has poison, do not try making them vomit, do not give things to eat or drink, listen to poison control
What is alcohol?
a depressant and not a stimulant
How does alcohol impact a person?
Affects a person’s judgement, vision, reaction time, and coordination
What is alochol the cause of?
motor vehicle crashes, falls, drowning, burns and violence (homicide, suicide and sexual assault)
What are signs of alcohol intoxication?
The odor of someone’s breath or clothing; unsteady, staggering walking; slurred speech and the inability to carry on a conversation, nausea & vomiting,, flushed face, seizures
What do you do if someone is intoxicated with alcohol?
Look for injuries
Monitor breathing
Check for spinal injury then shift the person into the recovery positon (left side)
Call poison center or 911 for advice
Leave the place once the person becomes violnet
Provide emotional support
If there is a suspected spinal injury, wait for EMS
Suspect hypothermia and move person to warm place if possible., Remove wet clothing and cover the person with warm blankets
What can hallucinogens do?
Produces changes in mood and sensory awareness; may hear and see things
Can induce bizarre behaviors- risky
What can hallucingens cause?
Acute intoxication- medical attention
What are 2 types of hallucinogens?
LSD and PCP- angel dust: causes severe behavioral changes
What is marijuana? What happens if someone consumes high doses of it?
Hemp plant ; hallucinations
Signs of marijuana
euphoria, relaxation, drowsiness; impaired short-term memory and capacity to do complex thinking and work; altered perception of time; and anxiety and panic
What are opioids and what can they do?
Relieve pain
Trigger release of endorphins- boost happiness; very addictiveve
Can slow or stop breathing
Signs of opioid usage
Extreme sleepiness or drowsiness, unresponsiveness, slow and shallow or no breathing, lips and nails turning blue, cold and clammy skin, extremely small pupils
What do you do if someone consumes opioids?
Check for breathing- gasping- tell someone to call 911, get an AED and naloxone and start CPR
Give naloxone- reverses a drug overdose- works only for opiods
If naloxone is not availbale, stay by their side and place them in recovery position, monitor breathing
Try to identify the drug if possible
Second dose may be required
How to treat non-opioid emergencies?
Call the poison control hotline if they are alert and responsive
Call 911 and monitor breathing if unresponsive
Provide reassurance and emotional support,
Place person on left side- recovery side
Check for injuries
Seek safety if person becomes violent
Symptoms of excessive carbon monoxide
could have flulike symptoms) dull headache, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), chest pain (angina), muscle weakness, nausea or vomiting, dizziness and visual changes (blurred or double vision), loss of responsiveness, and respiratory and cardiac arrest
The symptoms come and go, and worse or improve in certain ti,es of the day; people around the person can have similar symptoms, even the pets can seem ill
What to do if there is excessive carbon monoxide?
Get the people all out of the enviroment
Call 911 and have someone get 100% oxygen; 100% oxygen for 30-40 minutes reverses the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning
Monitor breathing
Place unresponsive breathing person in recovery positon
Seek EMS and blood test to detect levels of carbon monoxide
What are some causes of excess carbon monoxide?
Motor vehicle exhaust, faulty furnaces, water heaters, and portable generators. Fires, open flame or charcoal grills.
What does carbon monoxide cause? How does it occur?
Hypoxia;
Red blood cells bind with carbon monoxide than oxygen
Carbon monoxide does not allow the usage of little oxygen delivered
