Antidote Mastery: A Survey of Antidote Knowledge and Availability among Physicians in a South Indian District

Abstract

The exact frequency of poisoning is unclear, although it is the most prevalent cause of emergency room visits. It is a critical domain for emergency medicine practitioners, who are the first to see people who have been exposed to toxic substances. As a result, they must be aware of how to manage the poisoning. So, a survey was designed to identify their knowledge on antidotes for common poisonings, along with queries on antidotes and decontamination measures available within each hospital. A total of 232 people replied to the poll (77.33 % response rate). In general, data of antidotes are not found higher but differed based upon the antidote. Physicians who work in tertiary hospitals and more bedded hospitals appreciably served well. Merely 42.24 % of the 16 antidotes are accessible at each reporting hospitals on average; 18.1 % could acquire them from adjacent hospitals and 20.26 % could acquire them from a local distributor. Only 19.4 % of people can acquire an antidote within 2 h. The most common decontamination therapy is gastric lavage, while extracorporeal decontamination procedures 42.24 % and 36.64 % respectively are available in varying degrees. Knowledge of specific antidotes was shown to be connected to the size, type and location of the hospital in the East Godavari district, rather than individual physician characteristics. In roughly half of the hospitals assessed, significant antidotes are still unavailable or available within 2 h, even though all key acute decontamination therapies and procedures appear to be widely used.