Where to find the antidote?

Abstract

In the last ten years, increasing attention has been paid to the unavailability of antidotes in hospital pharmacies and emergency setting. Essential antidotes are not adequately stocked in many European and extra-European countries. The Pavia Poison Center (PPC) was charged by the National Institute of Health to conduct a survey in order to define the antidotes availability in emergency setting and to identify areas of possible improvement. Insufficient antidote stocking was defined as lack of the antidote or an amount inadequate to treat 1 seriously poisoned 70-kg patient for 24 hours. A national database (BaNdA) accessible through our PC website (www.cavpavia.it) that includes information on antidotes stocks of all hospital departments was created. The database information is available for all registered users and regularly updated: a simple query allows to identify hospitals provided with the antidote looked for at local, regional or national level. This database permit to optimize the antidotes procurement by EDs, through agreements with other hospitals serving the same area, to allow a more appropriate utilization of resources and to ameliorate the clinical management of the poisoned patient.