This is a guest post by Andrew Spencer, AREMT-I, MIRHC. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.
A new app for iPhone with more than 1500 medications for less than the price of a large cup of good coffee?
I was skeptical at first but having carried printed copies of the latest formularies, copies of the BNF, MIMS, USP-NF, and others for so many years I decided that £1.19 ($1.99) wasn’t too much to pay to give a try.
Despite taking up very little space, just 0.6MB, it contains a wealth of useful information.
The medications are broken down into 3 main categories:
1. NREMT Drugs
2. Common Home Meds
3. Medication Classes
NREMT Drugs
There are 111 of the most common emergency medications, from Abciximab to Ziprasidone, each with Drug Classes, Trade Names, Therapeutic Action/Pharmacodynamics, Emergency Use, Pharmacokinetics, Contraindications and Precautions, Adverse/Side Effects, Interactions, and Prehospital Considerations.
Common Home Meds
There are 1473 of the most common home medications with their classes.
Unlike a printed volume or many computer based references this app checks for updates and corrections every time you launch it. This means that you will not need to pay for the next edition / version, a great help as some are released every 3 to 6 months at a cost of £15 to £40 ($25 to $65) each.
It may not have the range of a printed or computer based formulary but with it’s light weight price and heavy weight content not only will this app act as an aid memoir but will be an excellent aid to learning for a students and for those newly on the road.
I think that I may now, finally, be able leave those bulky formulary publications on the wagon or even back at base.
Andrew has been a medic for over 25 years, as a nurse, Royal Navy medic, EMT, and educator. He is a member of the College of Emergency Medicine and the Faculty of PreHospital Care of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He is also a member of NAEMT and NAEMSE He has worked in many and varied environments including industrial, private services, and close protection.
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