Deadly Oversights: 48 Critical Errors First Responders Urge EMTs and Civilians to Avoid
If you take medications for something, it’s something you should report when asked if you have any medical problems (aka medical history). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked someone that questions and they’ve said they have no medical problems, only to find out they take 10 medications every day. If you take medications for high blood pressure (hypertension), that is a condition that you have, regardless of how well your blood pressure is currently controlled. Conversely, just because you *don’t* take medications for a condition doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still report that condition. Yes, it can make a difference. Sometimes a very life-altering difference.
Allergies ≠ medication preference
Allergies ≠ experiencing a medication side effect
Most penicillin (or penicillin class antibiotic) allergies are not actually true allergies. If you think you’re penicillin allergic because your mom or dad told you that long ago you got a rash, it might be a good idea to checked to see if you really are allergic. A penicillin allergy means that you can’t/won’t be given not just penicillin, but many other related antibiotics. For certain infections, this can seriously limit the number of effective antibiotics that can be given to you.
Iodine allergy ≠ shellfish allergy ≠ iodinated contrast (CT dye) allergy. These are all distinct allergies and having one doesn’t automatically mean that you have the others. Also, while some people have reactions to povidone iodine (reddish brown skin disinfectant) and describe this as an iodine allergy, it’s not really iodine that you’re allergic to. Iodine is an element and as such, is much too small to be a true allergen. Not to mention the fact that our bodies *require* iodine to function (via our thyroid gland), so if you were truly allergic to iodine, you wouldn’t be alive.
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