Final answer:
While medications can sometimes be administered for sudden illnesses, it's important to consider the patient's condition, potential risks, and ethical implications. Controlled environments like hospitals follow specific protocols like prescribed IV solutions, while situations involving untested drugs require careful ethical consideration. Dosage and administration are crucial to ensure the medication's efficacy and minimize potential toxicity, especially in vulnerable populations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Administering medications during sudden illnesses can be a complex situation. It requires careful consideration of the patient's condition, potential risks, and ethical considerations. One example is treating a patient with hypokalemia in a hospital setting, where a physician prescribes a specific dosage of 0.5% KCl intravenous (IV) delivery. In this controlled environment, an aide would likely obtain the IV bag from a supply cabinet, ensuring it meets the required concentration for treatment.
However, the situation becomes more nuanced when dealing with unregistered or untested medications. For instance, during an Ebola outbreak, there are moral dilemmas in dispensing experimental drugs with limited supplies. The use of untested drugs on patients must be weighed against the urgency of the situation and the potential benefits or risks involved. Similarly, widespread antibiotic use can be problematic. While individual patients seek quick relief, there is a collective risk associated with antibiotic resistance, calling for a balanced approach to prescribing antibiotics.
For severe allergic reactions, emergency treatments like epinephrine injections are necessary and individuals often carry auto-injectors to use in case of exposure to allergens. Follow-up treatments may include antihistamines and corticosteroids, though their use is based on theory rather than robust evidence. Additionally, when treating chronic conditions like asthma, the frequency of attacks and identified triggers influence the medication type, with long-term treatments differing from immediate relief options like inhalers or nebulizers.
Dosage and Route of Administration are crucial in ensuring therapeutic efficacy while minimizing toxicity. In children, dosages are often weight-based, while for adults, a standard dose is more common despite variances in body mass. Patients with liver or kidney dysfunction may require dosage adjustments due to altered drug metabolism and elimination.