Defining a standard medication kit for prehospital and retrieval physicians: a comprehensive review.
BACKGROUND
There is little consolidated evidence for which prehospital and retrieval drugs a given service should carry.


OBJECTIVE
To suggest a core group of drugs based on the best evidence currently available.


METHODS
This paper has reviewed documents from recognised evidence-based sources and put together an initial skeleton for an evidence-based drug pack.


RESULTS
The resultant list of drugs is divided up into core agents with suggestions for regional variations. This may be of particular interest to de novo services.


CONCLUSIONS
This review offers a starting point for services based on the evidence currently available. It is hoped that prehospital and retrieval clinicians will start to look analytically at what they carry and, through a process of audit, aim to improve the evidence in this area. Future reviews and comparisons of worldwide prehospital and retrieval databases are suggested.
Sadewasser
J
J
CareFlight Medical Services, EMQ Hangar 12, Bushpilot Avenue, Aeroglen, Queensland 4870, Australia. sadewasser@lycos.com
Potter
A
A
Ellis
D
D
D000552:Ambulances; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000592:standards*; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D010820:Physicians
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations