Symptom Relief Medications

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Symptom relief medications are five medications that paramedics in Canada are certified to administer under a base hospital physician's license. These medications are:

• aspirin for chest pain
• epinephrine for severe asthma exacerbation, and acute anaphylaxis
• glucagon for acute hypoglycemia
• nitroglycerin for pulmonary edema and chest pain
• salbutamol for shortness of breath.

The paramedic is issued a standing order for each use of the medications listed above which includes indications and contraindications for the drugs. Administration of the drugs however, is based solely on the paramedic's judgment.