EMS World

JUL 2011

EMS World Magazine is the most authoritative source in the world for clinical and educational material designed to improve the delivery of prehospital emergency medical care.

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IN A CHEMICAL NERVE AGENT ATTACK Have No Regrets. Be Prepared. By delivering the 2 recommended antidotes in an auto-injector, DuoDote® (atropine and pralidoxime chloride injection) offers the speed and simplicity to help you respond to poisoning by organophosphorous nerve agents or organophosphorous insecticides.1-3 To find out more about DuoDote® and for information on grant assistance, visit www.DuoDote.com or call 1-800-638-8093. Indication DuoDote® Auto-Injector (atropine and pralidoxime chloride injection) is indicated for the treatment of poisoning by organophosphorous nerve Auto-Injector should be administered by emergency medical services personnel who have had adequate training in the recognition and treatment of nerve agent or insecticide intoxication. DuoDote® agents as well as organophosphorous insecticides. DuoDote® Auto-Injector is intended as an initial treatment of the symptoms of organophosphorous insecticide or nerve agent poisoning; definitive medical care should be sought immediately. Important Safety Information Individuals should not rely solely upon agents such as atropine and pralidoxime to provide complete protection from chemical nerve agents and insecticide poisoning. Primary protection against exposure to chemical nerve agents and insecticide poisoning is the wearing of protective garments including masks designed specifically for this use. Evacuation and decontamination procedures should be undertaken as soon as possible. Medical personnel assisting evacuated victims of nerve agent poisoning should avoid contaminating themselves by exposure to the victim’s clothing. In the presence of life-threatening poisoning by organophosphorous nerve agents or insecticides, there are no absolute contraindications to the use of DuoDote® Auto-Injector. When symptoms of poisoning are not severe, DuoDote® Auto-Injector should be used with extreme caution in people with heart disease, arrhythmias, recent myocardial infarction, severe narrow angle glaucoma, pyloric stenosis, prostatic hypertrophy, significant renal insufficiency, chronic pulmonary disease, or hypersensitivity to any component of the product. Elderly people and children may be more susceptible to the effects of atropine. DuoDote® potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus. Safety and effectiveness in children have not been established. Muscle tightness and sometimes pain may occur at the injection site. The most common side effects of atropine can be attributed to its antimuscarinic action. Pralidoxime chloride can cause changes in vision, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, nausea, tachycardia, increased blood pressure, muscular weakness, dry mouth, emesis, rash, dry skin, hyperventilation, decreased renal function, excitement, manic behavior, and transient elevation of liver enzymes and creatine phosphokinase. When atropine and pralidoxime are used together, the signs of atropinization may occur earlier than might be expected when atropine is used alone. Please see brief summary of full Prescribing Information on adjacent page. References: 1. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Medical Management Guidelines (MMGs) for nerve agents: tabun (GA); sarin (GB); soman (GD); and VX. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MHMI/mmg166.html. Updated August 22, 2008. Accessed May 20, 2010. 2. DuoDote Auto-Injector [package insert]. Columbia, MD: Meridian Medical Technologies, Inc.; 2007. 3. Rebmann T, Clements BW, Bailey JA, Evans RG. Organophosphate antidote auto-injectors vs. traditional administration: a time motion study. J Emerg Med. 2009;37(2):139-143. DuoDote and the DuoDote Logo are registered trademarks of Meridian Medical Technologies™ Copyright © 2010 Meridian Medical Technologies™, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of King Pharmaceuticals® For More Information Circle 48 on Reader Service Card , Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of King Pharmaceuticals® , Inc. All rights reserved. MMT7332 08/2010 , Inc. Auto-Injector is Pregnancy Category C and should be used during pregnancy only if the READY TO RESPOND

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