Meds & Pharma
Thirty-seven lessons on medication safety for prehospital use: closed-loop checks, concentration errors, and weight-based calculations. This category is not a formulary. Doses stay on local protocol and medical direction.
37 lessons
Each lesson is 15 minutes or less, including a self-check drawn only from that lesson. A passed quiz is saved on this device.
Medication Rights & Safety Culture
10 min
Closed-loop medication rights: right patient, drug, dose, route, and time — and a culture that thanks the partner who stops an error.
Start lesson →Weight-Based Dosing Safety
10 min
Kilograms not pounds, mg/kg, concentration, volume, and a second check — stopping when the milliliters look wrong. Protocol owns the milligrams.
Start lesson →Fentanyl for Pain Management
10 min
Opioid analgesia for severe pain: assess, treat, reassess, and why a short transport time is not a reason to skip protocol pain care.
Start lesson →Epinephrine: Anaphylaxis & Arrest
12 min
Intramuscular thigh epinephrine for anaphylaxis versus intravenous or IO arrest concentrations — reading the vial every time so the indication matches the ampule.
Start lesson →Naloxone Use
10 min
Naloxone to restore breathing, not full wakefulness: airway first, titration if protocol allows, and capacity after the patient wakes.
Start lesson →Ketamine in the Field
10 min
Ketamine’s three uses — analgesia, severe agitation, and induction — airway vigilance, and not mixing dose ranges from memory. Protocol owns the milligrams.
Start lesson →Push-Dose Pressors
12 min
A temporary blood-pressure bridge when authorized: exact dilution, labeling, verbalizing concentration, and treating the cause (hemorrhage, tension, rhythm).
Start lesson →Aspirin in ACS
10 min
Early aspirin in suspected ACS when protocol allows — chew, document, and do not wait for the catheterization lab to start antiplatelet therapy.
Start lesson →Nitroglycerin Cautions
10 min
Nitroglycerin drops preload: when it helps ACS or wet lungs, and when it harms right-ventricular infarct, PDE5 use, or anyone already hypotensive.
Start lesson →Benzodiazepines in the Field
10 min
Benzodiazepines for seizure, agitation, and sympathomimetic toxicity: airway, glucose, and not using them as first-line therapy for eclampsia.
Start lesson →Albuterol & Bronchodilators
10 min
Nebulized bronchodilators for bronchospasm, when wheeze is actually heart failure, lactic acidosis with frequent SABA, and ipratropium as a partner drug per protocol.
Start lesson →Dextrose: D10 Framing
10 min
D10 titrated to effect versus D50 extravasation and overshoot — confirm hypoglycemia, recheck mentation, and protocol owns the bag.
Start lesson →Magnesium: Three Field Uses
12 min
Three magnesium indications: eclampsia, torsades, and severe asthma — mixing, respiratory depression, and not treating it as a benign mineral.
Start lesson →Tranexamic Acid in Trauma
10 min
TXA after life-saving hemorrhage control, only with clinical shock, only inside three hours — never a substitute for a tourniquet or an operating room. Pediatric use is not well studied.
Start lesson →Amiodarone & Lidocaine in Arrest
10 min
Antiarrhythmics in shockable arrest after defibrillation: protocol timing, IO flush, and not using them as a PEA reflex.
Start lesson →Atropine in the Field
10 min
Atropine for vagal or AV-nodal bradycardia versus pacing-ready high-grade block, and a completely different cholinergic-poisoning indication.
Start lesson →Calcium for HyperK ECG Toxicity
10 min
Calcium for ECG toxicity in hyperkalemia — membrane stabilization, not a potassium eraser — and protocol routes that reduce vein injury.
Start lesson →Sodium Bicarbonate Framing
10 min
Bicarbonate is not an arrest reflex: sodium-channel poison and selected hyperkalemia cards only, as protocol names them.
Start lesson →Glucagon Without IV Access
10 min
Intramuscular or intranasal glucagon when there is no IV: vomiting, the need for carbohydrate after they wake, and patients without glycogen stores.
Start lesson →Ipratropium With Albuterol
10 min
Adding ipratropium in obstructive crisis: who it helps, that it is not a standalone rescue, and protocol timing with albuterol.
Start lesson →Ondansetron in the Field
10 min
Ondansetron after considering ACS, head injury, and QT interval — comfort and aspiration prevention, not a substitute for turning the patient.
Start lesson →Oral Analgesics in the Field
10 min
Oral acetaminophen and NSAIDs as real analgesia for the right patient, and when the oral route is the wrong route.
Start lesson →Activated Charcoal Framing
10 min
When charcoal is even on the table: intact airway, recent ingestion, medical control, and why it is not a universal overdose intervention.
Start lesson →Oxytocin in Postpartum Hemorrhage
10 min
Oxytocin only after the infant is delivered, for uterine atony, with fundal massage — never for bleeding in an undelivered pregnancy.
Start lesson →Diphenhydramine Cautions
10 min
Diphenhydramine as an adjunct, not anaphylaxis care, and anticholinergic and sedation cautions in older adults.
Start lesson →Hydroxocobalamin for Smoke Cyanide
11 min
Closed-space smoke plus unexplained shock or arrest: cyanide suspicion, hydroxocobalamin if carried, without delaying airway and destination.
Start lesson →Dexamethasone & Field Steroids
10 min
Field steroids by indication — croup, bronchospasm, adrenal crisis, anaphylaxis adjunct — without delaying epinephrine or a bronchodilator for a steroid draw.
Start lesson →Diltiazem in AF with RVR
12 min
Diltiazem only for stable irregular narrow-complex AF your protocol names: watch the blood pressure, and never on an irregular wide-complex rhythm.
Start lesson →Droperidol & Haloperidol in the Field
11 min
Droperidol or haloperidol for agitation your protocol names: QT interval and medical mimics, monitoring, and not stacking blindly with other sedatives.
Start lesson →Undertreated Pain
11 min
Undertreating pain: score it, treat per protocol regardless of short ETA, reassess, and intranasal fentanyl in children if the protocol includes it.
Start lesson →Pediatric 10-Fold Med Errors
11 min
Kilograms not pounds, length-based tape, adult maximum as a ceiling, saying milligrams out loud — the classic ten-fold pediatric error.
Start lesson →Look-Alike Med Errors
11 min
Look-alike medications: read the name and concentration, closed-loop communication, and epinephrine 1 mg/mL versus 0.1 mg/mL as a grab error.
Start lesson →IO Medication Flush
11 min
IO access when IV is delayed: same dose as IV, a rapid flush, pressure for fluids, and not leaving the drug in the marrow.
Start lesson →Beta-Blocker and Calcium-Channel Overdose
12 min
Bradycardia and shock from a beta blocker or calcium-channel blocker. Atropine and pacing may fail. High-dose treatments belong to protocol and the poison center.
Start lesson →Intranasal Medication Delivery
10 min
Atomizer, both nostrils, and the formulation on your protocol. Large volumes run out of the nose. Arrest epinephrine is not an intranasal drug.
Start lesson →Cholinergic Crisis and Nerve Agents
12 min
Cholinergic crisis: small pupils, wet lungs, slow heart, seizures. Scene safety and decontamination first. Atropine and pralidoxime only from the authorized kit.
Start lesson →Sedation After an Advanced Airway
11 min
After a paralytic, sedation and analgesia are part of the airway. Protocol owns the drugs. Watch the pressure, and keep the waveform on.
Start lesson →