If you overdose and collapse, get taken to the hospital how would they know you took and overdose?

Question

If you did dat and got taken to the hospital how would the doctors know you took an overdose? and if you haven't told anyone about taking it?

Answer 1

It's pretty standard to send a urine toxicology when a patient is brought to the ED in an unconscious or semiconscious state. Drug overdose is one of the differential diagnoses for altered mental status. This is especially true for young individuals without any other obvious reason for collapsing.

Supportive treatment (oxygen, fluids, mechanical ventilation if necessary) is given until the offending drug is identified at which point more definitive treatment can be done.

Acetaminophen, alcohol and other drugs can be tested in the blood.

The paramedics or person who found the patient may also see evidence of syringes/needles, pills where the patient is found which can give a clue as to what they took.

Answer 2

You are taking a big risk with your life, that's for sure.



In most UK hospitals the front-line toxicology screen is a blood test for paracetamol, aspirin and alcohol.



If an overdose of another substance is suspected (dilated pupils, unconscious etc) then additional advice would be sought from the regional toxicology service.



Unfortunately even if the A+E staff discovered what was taken, there may still be no treatment available.



MUCH better to work through your problems without resorting to overdosing.

Answer 3

Narcotics- depressed respiration and pinpoint pupils ( may also be a pontine hemorrhage)

Barbiturates- large pupils and depressed respiration

Other hypnotics- usually normal respiration and pupils, hard to arouse.

Alcohol- odor

Diabetic coma- different odor to the breath.

These are just clues. They make the docs suspicious of an OD and what the drug might be. Then they run tests. While waiting for the results, general support.

Answer 4

They don't know anything at the hospital unless pill bottles are found near you, etc. Mostly they'd do life support - support your breathing and temperature and minimize muscle tremor and seizure - and they'd ask you if they got you to wake up. If they suspected an overdose of anything perhaps they'd pump your stomach right away.

Answer 5

Yes, they can test your blood, hair, and urine. Pills and other drugs take a little while to get out of your system so the odds that you took the drug not long before you passed out are high, meaning that you still have a lot of the drug left in you for them to find out how much you took, when you took it, and what it was that you took.

Answer 6

test your blood