Emergency Medical Responders (EMRs) respond to a female patient who was found by her husband in their second-floor bedroom. When the responders arrived, she was lying on her bed, with a tourniquet on her arm. They also found a syringe, with unknown contents, lying on the floor next to the bed. Her husband denies that she abuses any drugs. The EMRs have removed the tourniquet and inserted a nasopharyngeal airway, and they are providing positive pressure ventilations at the rate of 10 breaths/min with a bag-valve-mask device and supplemental oxygen. You note the woman to be unresponsive, with a pulse rate of 52, and apneic. What would your initial proper care include?

Toxicological emergencies are caused by substances that impair health or cause death by entering the body or touching the skin. These emergencies include: intentional overdose, unintentional poisoning, occupational exposure, environmental hazards, envenomation, biologic and chemical warfare, and radiation illness.  Toxicological emergencies are often complex and require a deep understanding of pharmacology. For example, carbon monoxide poisoning can cause mild to severe symptoms, including headache, nausea, dizziness, confusion, seizure, and coma. Other important findings in poisoning may... Show more

Toxicological emergencies are caused by substances that impair health or cause death by entering the body or touching the skin. These emergencies include:
intentional overdose, unintentional poisoning, occupational exposure, environmental hazards, envenomation, biologic and chemical warfare, and radiation illness. 

Toxicological emergencies are often complex and require a deep understanding of pharmacology. For example, carbon monoxide poisoning can cause mild to severe symptoms, including headache, nausea, dizziness, confusion, seizure, and coma. Other important findings in poisoning may include: muscle rigidity, tremors, and fasciculations. 
 

Here are some tips for treating poisonings:
For poisons taken internally:
Look into the victim's mouth and remove all tablets, powder, or any material that is present
Examine the mouth for cuts, burns, swelling, unusual coloring, or odor 

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