Wouldn’t it be nice if there were handy, little pocket guides for nurses? Wouldn’t it be nice if those guides were broken down into specific units so they included only pertinent information? And wouldn’t it be nice if those guides had hip, catchy names? Well, today is your lucky day! Many of you have seen our Quick-E! series of books. Maybe you’ve received a free copy at a convention or maybe you’ve just perused the 10 titles online. Today, let’s take a quick look inside one of them.

Where better to start than the ER? Many of you are fans of the fast-paced, electric environment an emergency room delivers. You need to be able to think on your feet and make a life-changing decision on a moment’s notice. For example, what if a patient comes in after eating some tainted seafood or inhaling some dangerous lead paint fumes? Here’s a little help about common household poisons and their treatment:

Product: Permanent wave neutralizer (potential kidney damage)
Treatment: Supportive if boric acid poisoning. Sodium thiosulfate by mouth; demulcent; consider dialysis early.

Product: Fingernail polish and fingernail polish remover
Treatment: Supportive, watch for CNS depression.

Product: Electric dishwasher granules, ammonia
Treatment: Treat as caustic burn. Watch for coma and convulsions with ammonia.

Product: Toilet, bathroom deodorizer: naphthalene poisoning (also mothballs)
Treatment: Coma, convulsions, kidney damage. Supportive, alkalinize urine, transfuse and fluid replacement prn, diazepam for convulsions.

Product: Acid disinfectants (boric, formic, etc.)
Treatment: Corrosive supportive, treat as caustic burn

Product: Alkali disinfectant
Treatment: Potentially caustic, demulcents, treat as caustic burn.

Product: Aspirin (salicylate)
Treatment: Emesis, gastric lavage with activated charcoal, administration of saline cathartic, sodium bicarbonate, Vit. K if bleeding present.

Product: Mercury (acute). The one in thermometers is not absorbed in GI tract, but may poison by inhalation. Industrial waste, agricultural products, and tainted seafood.
Treatment: Metallic taste in mouth, bloody diarrhea, kidney failure. Gastric lavage with milk and egg white or sodium bicarbonate. Chelation with British antilewisite (BAL).

Product: Arsenic (pesticides/herbicides, dyes, and medicinal solutions)
Treatment: Renal failure, shock. Gastric lavage with water, dimercaprol, supportive.

Product: Lead (old paint, water pipes, certain foods/wines, lead glaze in pottery, leaded gasoline).
Treatment: Gastric lavage with magnesium or sodium sulfate. Fluid therapy followed by chelation with IM injection of calcium disodium edentate or BAL if severe.

Editor’s note: For more information on our Quick-E! series of books, click the link at the top, right of this page.