An Epipen (or the Epipen Jr.) is the first line of defense for any private in the throes of a severe allergic reaction. This small injectable vial of crisis treatment is used to cut or prevent a severe allergic response known as anaphylaxis. Although every someone is different, the signs and symptoms they could show during a severe allergic reaction all are ordinarily caused by this list of perpetrators:
- exercise induced allergies
- medications and pharmaceutical drugs
- latex allergy
- food allergies
- environmental allergies
- insect stings or bug bites
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It is not unusual a someone having an adverse reaction admittedly may not be able to administer their own life-saving medicine, called epinephrine, because of the severity of their symptoms. It is mandatory therefore someone else must step send and use the Epipen. This gives the patient some extra time to get to crisis medical assistance for additional treatment.
How To Use The Epipen
Easy to succeed directions makes it very simple for anything to step send and take charge of this situation.
But the biggest hurdle most habitancy have to overcome is knowing when to administer a dose of epinephrine. The number one rule though is also easy. Do not ever hesitate to use the Epipen in case you see someone in distress from their allergy. Each and every second you waste is admittedly precious time lost for that individual.
If it was admittedly not a true emergency, there is nothing you did which could have hurt the patient more. Not using that Epipen though when needed could mean you have just taken a life.
An Epipen (full dose) or the Epipen Jr. (small dose for small children and infants) is a singular dose injectable tube which is injected into the exterior edge of the upper part of the leg (in the thigh area). From this position the treatment has the best occasion for maximum effectiveness in the shortest duration of time. Often only having seconds to get the medication into the patient, this position offers the best location for prompt response.
There is only three easy steps to remember when using an Epipen.
- Hold the injector tube in your hand with the tip down like you are going to stab someone with a knife. Take off the safety cap on the top of that tube.
- Hold the tube about 6-12" away from the patient's leg and swing the tube towards their leg. Allow the tip to push into the leg. A spring-loaded safety cap will open, there will be an audible clicking sound when the medication is ready to be injected. Hold this slight pressure onto the leg for about 10 seconds while the medication is all dispensed. There is no need to worry about removing clothing or anything from the area. Keep a constant pressure onto the leg and the medication will still dispense straight through any layers of clothes.
- Remove the tube from the leg after 10 seconds and call 911. Get converyance to a hospital or doctor.
You are now done!
After injecting the patient there should be a noticeable revision within seconds. You should see the someone has:
- improved breathing with less wheezing and some relief is visible from the shortness of breath
- the person's blood pressure will start to rise again which increases the heart rate. Often you will observation your patient has a fast irregular heart beat at first until their symptoms start to stabilize
- the itching, hives or welts and swelling, especially colse to the face, lips and mouth should start to decrease
- you may observation your patient has greatest shakiness or immoderate sweating but this will pass as they stabilize
Infrequently, some patient's may carry a complicated dose which has been prescribed by their doctor. If the physician feels there is a greater occasion of a severe reaction or the possibility exists that medical intervention may be to far away to get to immediate crisis care, a complicated dose injector, called a Twinject is prescribed for those individuals when a complicated dose may be needed.
Again, this is just an educated guess on your part from your observations on hand. Within 5-15 minutes after the first dose, and if you believe your patient is still in crisis stress, repeat the same course with the second pen.
Storage And Disposal Techniques
Achieving the ideal storehouse temperatures is needful to keep the effectiveness of the medication.
Do not ever refrigerate or ice the injectable pens. Also, keep the pens away from greatest heat sources. This means summer or winter, you can not store your pen in the car for easy converyance and close proximity.
The ideal temperature is about halfway in the middle of 59 to 86 degrees. Try at all times to keep the pen in the mid-seventies for maximum effectiveness. If for some theorize the pens have been subjected to any type of temperature extreme, high or low, then return the unit to your physician and get immediate replacements for safety purposes.
For disposal of the pens after use or for out-of-date medications you use the same procedure. Return the units to your physician or the hospital for replacements.
So keep your cool, act responsibly but quickly, and you will be rewarded with the knowledge you have just saved an additional one human being's life.
Epipen Use - How To Use It To operate An Allergic Reaction
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