Abstract
Methods: A postal questionnaire was used to determine the current level of use of prehospital activated charcoal by ambulance NHS trusts, the incidence of associated complications, and barriers preventing the routine use of prehospital SDAC.
Results: A completed questionnaire was returned by 36 of the 39 ambulance NHS trusts in the UK (response rate 92%). Currently none of the trusts that responded to the questionnaire provides prehospital SDAC as an intervention. The most common barriers to the provision of prehospital SDAC are the current lack of evidence in the medical literature proving it is effective in improving patient outcome and the lack of a recognised protocol for its administration. Other issues included concerns regarding potential complications, ambulance turnaround times, lack of availability of SDAC, and lack of funding.
Conclusions: A lack of published evidence proving efficacy remains the most important factor in preventing the routine administration of SDAC to appropriate patients in the prehospital environment. Further research in this setting is required to determine the usefulness of this therapy.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (63.0 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Alaspä Ari O., Kuisma Markku J., Hoppu Kalle, Neuvonen Pertti J. Out-of-hospital administration of activated charcoal by emergency medical services. Ann Emerg Med. 2005 Feb;45(2):207–212. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2004.07.448. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Buckley N. A., Whyte I. M., O'Connell D. L., Dawson A. H. Activated charcoal reduces the need for N-acetylcysteine treatment after acetaminophen (paracetamol) overdose. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 1999;37(6):753–757. doi: 10.1081/clt-100102452. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Chyka P. A., Seger D., Krenzelok E. P., Vale J. A., American Academy of Clinical Toxicology. European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists Position paper: Single-dose activated charcoal. Clin Toxicol (Phila) 2005;43(2):61–87. doi: 10.1081/clt-200051867. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Karim A., Ivatts S., Dargan P., Jones A. How feasible is it to conform to the European guidelines on administration of activated charcoal within one hour of an overdose? Emerg Med J. 2001 Sep;18(5):390–392. doi: 10.1136/emj.18.5.390. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Merigian Kevin S., Blaho Kari E. Single-dose oral activated charcoal in the treatment of the self-poisoned patient: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial. Am J Ther. 2002 Jul-Aug;9(4):301–308. doi: 10.1097/00045391-200207000-00007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thakore S., Murphy N. The potential role of prehospital administration of activated charcoal. Emerg Med J. 2002 Jan;19(1):63–65. doi: 10.1136/emj.19.1.63. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wax P. M., Cobaugh D. J. Prehospital gastrointestinal decontamination of toxic ingestions: a missed opportunity. Am J Emerg Med. 1998 Mar;16(2):114–116. doi: 10.1016/s0735-6757(98)90024-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]