Toxicology

Objectives
Upon completion of the one-week Toxicology rotation, the pharmacy resident should be able to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of available toxicologic resources and ability to retrieve toxicologic
information.
2. Discuss the toxicity, pathophysiology and therapy of common overdoses and poisons.
3. Demonstrate the ability to obtain a pertinent history regarding a poisoning exposure.
4. Demonstrate skills necessary to evaluate the potential severity of a poisoning exposure.

We spent last week at BC Poison Control in Vancouver. It was a nice change from our clinical rotations and project work! We didn’t actually get to answer any phone calls but we got to listen in on some.  There is a wide variety of callers. Anything from ER physicians with multi-drug over dose questions to the lay public.  There were scenarios that apparently happen all the time that I would have never guessed. For example:

1) People getting crazy glue in their eye

2) Drinking industrial solvents (accidentally) because someone had poured it into a water/pop bottle!

3) People drinking the hand sanitizers in the hospitals (Isogel) to get drunk.

We spent most of the week working up paper cases for common overdoses (acetaminophen, salicylates, TCAs, CCBs, alcohols).  We learned the “process” of assessing an overdose patient (stabilization or ABCs, history and PE exam, decontamination, antidote administration if indicated, enhancing elimination and monitor and supportive care). It was a good introduction and I am happy I now have a bit of background before I do my ICU and emergency rotations next year.