Wednesday 21 January 2015

First Aid and over-the-counter meds at events..

Those of you who aren't aware of my activities outside of med school: I volunteer at the Red Cross as a first aid provider at events. (Events being small local pop concerts, fairs, sports games, national holidays etc)
People generally never ask me for a paracetamol (acetaminophen) tablet. If they do, the occurrence is only about once or twice for every 50 hrs of volunteer work.
To be clear, our Dutch Red Cross district doesn't hand out pills if we can help it. Our volunteers also aren't given medication to hand out to people.
But at my latest 5-hr shift, I've been asked for aspirins/paracetamol/ibuprofen over 6 times.
Some people were suffering from headaches, others were trying to get one for their friend with a headache. And another was trying to get aspirins for a 2 year old child.

.. Uh. How about.. No.


I always take different pills with me whenever I'm on duty, but those are generally for myself. Aspirins are for people with confirmed cardiac events to improve the prognosis, but outside of those cases, I will never give someone aspirins during my volunteer shifts.

Whenever I'm having a good day, I just might give someone a paracetamol tablet with a low dosage, provided they have done every sensible thing first, aren't suffering from diseases of the liver and aren't taking other drugs (drugs in the widest sense of usage here.. Alcohol is a drug.)

Most often, I'd rather shut up and tell them I don't have medication with me. It's way easier. People won't sue me for handing out medication, and I don't have to give up my pills (My pills. Mine. I paid for them myself.)

You may dislike me for my tendency to tell people that I do not have any medication with me, but lets be honest. We have our reasons for not handing out medication on the whims of any person.
  1. Everybody lies. (Not all the time, but if you really want to have a paracetamol tablet for that killer headache, wouldn't you tell a lie to make sure you got the painkillers?)
  2. Most of the First Aid volunteers aren't doctors. We're not allowed to just hand out pills to everyone (even if they are over-the-counters).
  3. With people becoming more sue-happy all over the world, I'd rather save my own skin and let someone suffer through a simple headache than risk them/their family sueing me over whatever complication that may happen.
  4. It's my money. I have to pay for those pills. I'm just a poor med student. I'll give a patient with a heart attack aspirins if the doctors/paramedics/911 tell me to do so, but handing out pills to just about everyone will drain my wallet.
  5. Do you actually need the medication?
    My 5-hr shift involved a ridiculously loud environment. Theoretically, none of the people really needed the painkillers. They only needed to get away from the noise and drink/eat something.
  6. Children are a definite 'No.' I'm not giving children medication, even if its with their parents permission.
  7. People asking for pills for their friend/family member without me being able to see said friend or family member are denied their pills as well. I need to ask the person a couple of questions before I'll even think about handing out a pill.
I'm lucky the people at my last shift didn't yammer for the painkillers, but if you're one of those people who actively DEMAND to be given painkillers..

No.. Just don't. Please.

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