Читать книгу Fundamentals of Pharmacology for Paramedics - Группа авторов - Страница 75

Assembled by the Joint Formulary Committee, this is a reliable resource of information on medication. It includes drug information covering individual medication, groups of medication, uses, side‐effects and interactions (Young and Pitcher, 2016). The information provided is evidence informed from drug manufacturer/supplier datasheets, literature, consensus guidelines and peer review. The BNF makes use of a grading system of A–E and levels of evidence to help understand the strength of evidence underpinning the associated recommendations given (Joint Formulary Committee, 2019). The BNF is available in hard copy for both the Adult (BNF 2020a) and Children’s (BNF 2020b) versions. The resources can also be accessed as a mobile app or online (bnf.nice.org.uk/).

Medication listed within pharmaceutical and prescribing guidance documents can be presented with a generic and brand or trade name. The generic name is used to define:

 The chemical name of a medication

 A term referring to the chemical make‐up of a medication rather than to the advertised brand name under which the medication is sold

 A term referring to any medication marketed under its chemical name without advertising

 The medication’s active ingredient.

The brand or trade name of a medication is the name given by the pharmaceutical company that manufactures it. It is usually easy to write and say for sales and marketing purposes. An example of this is paracetamol (generic name) which can have the following brand or trade names: Panadol, Calpol.

The brand or trade name is often written more clearly on a medicine’s packaging; the generic name will also be written somewhere on the packaging but often in small print. It is also not uncommon to find that some packaging only has the generic name on it.

The production of a given generic medication by individual manufacturers using a different brand or trade name can also result in a medication being presented differently. Examples of this can include a variation in the colour, size and shape of a given medication depending on which company makes it. The paramedic needs to be vigilant and aware of this potentially dangerous issue. It may be that the pharmacist supplying an ambulance service or the patient with a given drug is getting it from a different company, or the prescription has been written in a generic way rather than using a brand name. Paramedics must take great care to check and ensure that any medication to be administered is the correct medication.