Modern Medicine: Managing Emergent/Crisis Situations

Once a renowned physician told the author that a patient will talk about his most disturbing and dominant symptom ahead of all the other symptoms and, if a physican is able to manage that most disturbing complaint of headache or abdominal pain or for that matter any other pain, most of his sympathetic pains will also disappear as soon as the most prominent symptom gets dispelled. To achieve this end, he should be given some palliative to overcome the immediate problem, rest of the complaints can be discerned and treated subsequently. An experienced doctor can easily decide about seat and cause of the pain, and then, it shouldn’t be difficult for him to manage the crisis stage.

Most of the pains originate in the head, heart, abdomen, bone joints, during labour period, mensuration, and trauma related areas, liver etc and the general causes are not difficult to discern. All said and done, try to relieve pain or/ and other disturbing symptom, followed by requisite investigations, if necessary, But in your hurry to show better and quicker results, never resort to the sort of medication that will bring/wrought with serious side effects. If some sedative/tranqulizer is also added to an analgesic or a muscle relaxant drug in case of jount pains, it can yield magical relief for the patient. Anyway, judicious selection of such drugs out of the available lot, depends on experience of a doctor. If, however, if the malody does not yield even to the best selected drug it is always better to refer the patient to a hospital or a specialist.

Important factors necessary for administration of drugs

1. Take note to patient’s age, sex, health condition, food habits, addictions, nature of pain and mental condition, in addition to patient’s previous history.

2. Purchase medicines only from dependable and famous chemists who stock medicines processed by standard companies only.

3. Never exceed the stated doze nor change dosage and frequently, abruptly or in a hush.

4. Do not purchase medicines whose date has expired.

5. Keep the medicines under normal temperature as advised on the literature.

6. Do not expose drugs to sun-rays, moisture, dust, heat, smoke etc.

7. Do not give any medicine on empty stomach, not even vitamin and iron injection which are reported to have many serious side effects

8. In certain cases more than two drugs may be required to be given simultaneously, hence do not hesitate, if the situation so warrants.

9. Manage the con comittant and Concurrent symptoms and also watch patient’s compliance and response which, if not satisfactory, may compel review and reassessment of the case, when drugs, timings and frequency and dosage may have to be changed.

10. Take serious note of what the patient reports and never doubt/ suspect about what he says

11. Do not discontinue the drugs which a patient has been taking regulary. For instance, some drugs arc to be taken regularly in case of blood pressure, cardiac complaint, diabetes etc. Enquire details of such drugs and adjust your new drugs suitably with those of patient’s regular medicines

12. Take special care of infants, children, the elderly, emaciated and undernouristed persons and pregnant ladies.

13. Do not prescribe any ergot-based drug, any strong anti-constipational drug, sedative, traquilizer, mood stabilizer, diuretic etc. In such cases try to correct the complaints through proper dietary measures but medicines should be used as a final resort only, when all other options have been tried, but failed.

14. Bleeding must be controlled at any cost, whatever be the cause and site of bleeding

15. Note Carefully the warning notes mentioned on the drug literature or learn through experience and interaction.

16. Protect the patient from extreme conditions of heat, cold, moisture, air, water and environmental pollution etc.

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