Need for a good partner...

The field of emergency Medical care is a field that it is extremely important that you have a partner that you can trust to treat any patients as well as if not better than you treat them. Over the years I have worked with people with various qualifications and my experiences with them have ranged from the wonderful to the absolute terrifying.

Nowhere is this more important than in the areas surrounding medication and the administration of medication. On one of my many trips abroad with organised groups we were being asked constantly for Antihistamine tablets for hayfever complaints from most of the group that travelled. After a few days I went to replenish my supply from the central supply we had brought with us to discover that this too was severly depleated.

It did not take me long to investigate the reason behind the rapid depletion, the other medic had replaced his supplies from the central store having used them to treat many of the same patients that I had been giving them to! It subsquently transpired that they had noticed that I would ask them had they had any already that day and they answered me honestly, however the other medic did not ask them had they had any already and also did not ensure they actually took the tablets!. This resulted in some people managing to take two or three or in one case four tablets a day having used other friends to get the tablets for them from the second medic.

A strong reinforcement of drugs policy was dished out to the second medic and from then on he was only allowed to give out medications under strict supervision. He was never subsquently asked to help out at those events again.