Anticholinergic Agent Overdose
-- anticholinergics = medications that block the parasympathetic nerves
-- patients are typically “hot as a hare, dry as a bone, red as a beet, and mad as a hatter”
-- symptoms -- hyperthermia -- dilated pupils -- dry skin -- reddened skin -- agitation -- delirium
-- common drugs -- atropine -- diphenhydramine -- jimsonweed -- amitriptyline
-- medications may be taken in an intentional overdose
-- difficult to tell apart from a sympathomimetic overdose -- agitation -- tachycardia -- dilated pupils
-- patients with acute tricyclic antidepressant overdose need immediate transport -- may appear normal -- seizure and death can occur in 30 minutes
-- call for ALS backup with tricyclic antidepressant overdoses to deal with cardiac dysrhythmias
