Drugs on the National Registry?

[DwayneEMTP]

Hey all,

I'm months away from finishing my clinicals and being able to test for medic, but something occurred to me this morning in the shower.

What drugs are covered on the NR written? I'm pretty comfortable with the 25-30 that are used locally, (I can list them if it will make things easier) but I see many from around the country posted on these forums that I don't recognize, or if I recognize the name, have encountered them in passing and certainly would not be prepared to test on them.

Are drugs a significant part of the NR written? And if so, is there a list that I can access to let me know what to expect?

The NR doesn't really concern me in general. I haven't found the testing at any point on the EMS path to be overly aggressive, I'm just attempting to avoid that "Oh Shit!" moment when I realize I neglected something that should have been obvious, while I still have a few months to prepare.

Thanks to those of you that can help!

Have a great day!

Dwayne

[gvandellen]

Having just taken the both written and practical I really don't remember any drug questions other then the effect one might have on the body. For your IV station you are only going to be given a basic drug that is easy to calculate for administration. Don't worry about seeing some oddball drug like Decadron that most systems don't even carry. Just know the drugs that are in all your ACLS, PALS, and the few like Narcan and Dextrose.

[medic429]

the only drug question I can remember from the NR was for the pediatric dose of Atropine.

good luck!

[Dustdevil]

the only drug question I can remember from the NR was for the pediatric dose of Atropine.

I haven't taken the CBT written, but on the paper written, this is correct. I think pre-fill meds, Epi, and Lido drips are about the only meds covered.

[paramedicmike]

Be ready for a dopamine calculation, too. Like Dust, I don't know if this is on the CBT. But it was on the paper test. My guess is that it's still fair game.

-be safe

[Ridryder 911]

Several of our employees just finished the CBT Paramedic test last week, and described that majority of the test was in fact over medications, and on their test (5 total) there was no scenarios as they had predicted.

The medications they described that was on the test were administration of Lopressor, Calcium Channel Blockers, and ACE inhibitors. Like others described, there were medication dosage calculations (usually Dopamine), ironically there were no pediatric medication dosage as one would predict. There were questions on administration techniques such as sub-q, etc...

Good luck !

R/r 911

[JakeEMTP]

Be ready for a dopamine calculation, too. Like Dust, I don't know if this is on the CBT. But it was on the paper test. My guess is that it's still fair game.

-be safe

I'm sure this isn't new to the more experienced members of this forum, but I recently came across a very easy way to calculate dopamine drip rates.

Take the pt's weight in pounds. Drop the last number and subtract the first number from the number remaining, multiply by 2.

For example, you have a 100 kg pt. Convert to pounds = 220. Remove the zero and you are left with 22. Subtract 2 from 22 and you are left with 20. multiply that by 2 and you have the drip rate.

22

-2

=20

20

x2

=40 gtt.

[scparamedic98]

I'm sure this isn't new to the more experienced members of this forum, but I recently came across a very easy way to calculate dopamine drip rates.

Take the pt's weight in pounds. Drop the last number and subtract the first number from the number remaining, multiply by 2.

For example, you have a 100 kg pt. Convert to pounds = 220. Remove the zero and you are left with 22. Subtract 2 from 22 and you are left with 20. multiply that by 2 and you have the drip rate.

22

-2

=20

20

x2

=40 gtt.

That makes no sense right there. I do know one where you take the pt's weight in kg's multiply it by the desired dose (micro grams/min) for example: 100kg person x 5 mcg/min = 500 or $5. There are 20 quarters in $5 then the drip rate would be 20gtts/min. This is for a 800:1 mixture . 1600:1 mixture would be double. Maybe yours is similar but somewhere you've got to plug a dosage in there.

[DwayneEMTP]

I'm sure this isn't new to the more experienced members of this forum, but I recently came across a very easy way to calculate dopamine drip rates.

Take the pt's weight in pounds. Drop the last number and subtract the first number from the number remaining, multiply by 2.

For example, you have a 100 kg pt. Convert to pounds = 220. Remove the zero and you are left with 22. Subtract 2 from 22 and you are left with 20. multiply that by 2 and you have the drip rate.

22

-2

=20

20

x2

=40 gtt.

This is assuming you want to give 10mcg/kg/min from a concentration of 1600 mcg/ml using a microdrip chamber.

The shortcut you listed is in our protocols though slightly different.

Take weight in pounds, subtract 2 from the first two numbers, (100th and 10th places), and that will give you your drip rate for 5mcg/kg/min from a concentration of 1600 mcg/ml using a microdrip chamber.

The the rate can then be easily/logically adjusted up or down for differing dosage ranges.

It's easy to remember and I've worked a few dozen problems for comparison long hand and can't find any obvious holes in it.

Good point to bring up though...

Dwayne

[Dustdevil]

I don't get that. There is no one magic number for your drip rate. Your dopamine drip rate is calculated while considering the effects you are trying to achieve, as well as the condition of the patient. And the rate will be constantly changing as the patient's condition progresses.

Maybe this magic number that comes from this calculation method is just to put you in the mid-range, for you to adjust up and down from? That would make sense, as it does seem to put you right in the mid-range. That's a nice, quick and dirty way to get started, I guess. But it's a pretty haphazard way to administer such a powerful medication.