Atropine as a nerve gas antidote

[Fractalhead]

After reading in the newspaper that Iraq has bought millions of doses of atropine (presumeably for use as a nerve gas antidote), I looked out into the garden and thought, ahhhh, well we might be set for atropine in this household... But really, what sort of dosing regime do you reckon would be effective against your typical nerve gas attack? I can't do any literature research until after exams, but might be something worth thinking about...

Fractal

[Guest Mesqualero]

Did a quick search and found this..

http://www.emergency.com/nervgas.htm

[Auxin]

"Iraq has bought millions of doses of atropine"

They are TRYING to buy that, last I heard they have not been successful. Noone wants to give them a means to survive a attack by US chemical weapons.

[Guest Mesqualero]

Ironic isnt it....

[waterdragon]

so will the inspectors be looking for fields of belladonnas? we can't have them defending themselves against weapons of mass destruction, that would never do.

[Auxin]

Wouldnt Daturas be more suited to the Iraqi climate?

[woof woof woof]

heheheh, maybe good time to get in touch with the Iraqi GoV and sell them Datura seeds.... They will be obliterated anyway if the U.s wants to...

[Auxin]

"maybe good time to get in touch with the Iraqi GoV and sell them Datura seeds...."

Sounds good to me, as long as you dont mind torture, illegal detainment and execution at the hands of the american govt. Havent you heard about the hundreds of illegaly held detainees in Cuba, the war crimes perpetrated in Afghanistan by the US government (including torture and illegal execution of prisoners and the bombing of civilian towns), or how about Bush saying he will kill anyone who supports people he considers 'evil'?

Its not very encouraging when my president is worse than my countries supposed enemies.

[waterdragon]

your president is your countries enemy. it's probably too much to hope for but i'd like to see a switch to democracy and sanity.

[theobromos]

Hyoscyamus spp are found in many of the dry areas in the Middle East.

Dosage of the antidote is very tricky. You would probably have to inject (an acquaintance had great fun with the British Army medical kits, or at least he thinks he had great fun but can't really remember) and keep adding more to the subject if the symptoms persisted.

And recognise the agent first. There are many war gases and other chemical agents. Would you suspect aerosolised fentanyl as a chemical agent? Got any opioid antidotes handy in case the Russians need to do some quick and messy pacifying?

[Auxin]

"your president is your countries enemy"

My president is every countries enemy (except Israel.) It is a fact that since the 'War on Terrorism' started we have been in violation of the geneva convention every day. Illegaly holding foreign troops, torturing people, doing illegal executions, bombing civilian targets because the US govt suspects that the 'enemy' might try to hide amoungst innocent civilians. We put enemy troops in sealed metal boxes to suffocate them to death and use radiological bombs across Iraq. And those are just the atrocities that we know about. If using radiological bombs on children isnt worth more than a local coverup, imagine what is!!!

Anyway, if a chemical warfare attack comes when your not ready heres what you do: Pee on a rag, use it as a gas mask, and run. [yes pee is much better than water, urine is a natural buffer]

[MrBumpy]

its funny how the world is pushing for N.Korea to give up on its nuclear program (even though it has no fossil fuel reserves, so Nuclear power could be a viable option for the country) yet no one seems to raise an eyebrow Bush proposes to restart nuclear testing of america's arsenal. cause everyone knows that Nuclear arms are gonna be useful in the war on terrorism ( I hear France has Al Queda sleeper cells...lets nuke'm)

-bumpy

[Auxin]

"( I hear France has Al Queda sleeper cells...lets nuke'm)"

I hear the US has Al Queda sleeper cells too.

Hmmmmm.

[spaced]

Originally posted by theobromos:

Dosage of the antidote is very tricky. You would probably have to inject

I thought the idea was to use stuff available in the home garden. Given the speed at which some of these agents work you wouldn't have time to get down to the hospital anyway and besides the emergency rooms would presumably be packed out - thats if the hospital hadn't been targeted.

And recognise the agent first. There are many war gases and other chemical agents.

What have you got to go on - the smell, the taste, the empty canister siting in your lounge room? You would have to make some assumptions based on the symptoms. Constricted pupils, excessive salivation and diarrhoea may be due to something with cholinergic side effects in which case atropine may come in handy. Smoking datura, hyoscyamus etc would in such case be both diagnostic and therapeutic - if the symptoms improve then up the dose. All this is very risky but then if your dealing with near certain death what have you got to lose? Mind you if you muck up and they have indeed given you aerosolised china white then you'll be in a delirium from the datura and feeling quite smacked out from the fentanyl analogue - the doctors would probably just give you some valium to shut you up and you'd wake up several days later in a psychiatric ward, not knowing where you are or how you got there, all whilst going through opioid withdrawal.

[eccles]

jesus fucking christ.

well... what else can I say.

I wish people were nicer to each other.

[theobromos]

Me too.

[woof woof woof]

and if the inevitable worst case scenarion happens, make it snappy and happy..... (terminate/end life)

but i prefer people being nicer to each other and the earth.

Bri

Ask great Skyfather.....

[spikey]

well in israel u need to get gas masks...

it's the law in case some one attacks

and it comes in a kit... and in that kit is atropine injections... so it's an antidote to nerve gas

but in the last year there was kinda a debate of changing atropine because alot of people would die from the shot, after all it's still atropine and some people are more sensitive to it

and guess what they wanna change the atropine to...

thc.... so i guess u don't need to grow datura incase there is a war

just keep on smoking