Dustdevil Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Okay, here is a strictly hypothetical scenario. You and your crew, who run a single-ambulance operation, keep all your morphine either on your person, or in a safe at the station. None is kept in the ambulance. You know exactly how much morphine you have assigned to your operation, and it is all accounted for each day by a physical, two man count. Never any problems with this. One day you decide that maybe you should go ahead and lock a couple morphines in the ambo's lock box "just in case." So... you walk out to the ambo with two morphines, unlock the ambulance and climb in. Then you unlock the narc box, which you expect to find empty, and you find a zippered pouch sitting there. A strange "oh $hit" look comes across your face as you slowly lift the pouch out and open it. Inside, you find four full vials of morphine. You have been one of only four medics with this service for the last 9 months and none of you have ever even looked in that narc box before. The drugs have been in there longer than any of you. None of you knew they were there. Nobody anywhere knows they were there. They are not signed out to you, so you are not responsible for them. As of this moment, you are the only person on earth who knows about those four vials of morphine. Discuss amongst yourselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckEMT Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Maybe just because I am a student now, first thing I would do would be to take the 4 vials of morphine into the station and have them accounted for. Also if we were doing unit checks they way we were supposed to before every shift, these would have been noticed a long time ago. To have a viable narcotic tracking system, the rules have to be followed to a T every day. If Medics get complacent, that is when you have the oppertunity for missing narcs and possible abuse. Just my " goody 2 shoes" answer being a new medic student. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicRN Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Party time!!!! :headbang: :occasion5: :sleepy2: No, seriously......... Is it packaged the same as what you carry? What's to say one of the other medics hasn't been diverting their morphine. It sounds like pee tests all around just to make sure. Otherwise, was this a brand sparkling new ambulance when it was gotten by the service? Or was it used? If used, the owner/police (because you are going to turn the new-found morphine into the boss) need to determine previous ownership and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted October 19, 2006 Author Share Posted October 19, 2006 Again, hypothetically speaking, of course... The unit is checked religiously everyday. But checking the narc box for something that does not exist is not part of that check. The unit was delivered brand new to this service, however none of the current personnel were there at that time. None of the current personnel have been there longer than nine months, and it has never been the policy to carry narcs in the narc box during those nine months. And again, all narcs officially assigned to this service are accounted for. Oh, and there really are no "police" per se in this hypothetical country. 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becksdad Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 You really don't have much choice. Its gonna hurt, but everybody is going to take a hit for not checking the narc box in the truck before. I sincerely hope that I would account for the additional narcs, with witnesses, and inform whatever officer is responsible for re-stock and initial depot accountability. I would also inform all my colleagues who are going to be affected by this so they're not blind-sided. The good news, I believe, is that despite the problem everyone will have for missing this, it will ultimately prove trustworthiness. Its a lot better than missing narcs with everyone denying responsibilty. Then everyone remains under suspicion. So everybody fess up, take your hit, and move on. I really do think that would be the end result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZCEP Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Start documenting right now. Supervisor/administration needs to be made aware of this happening, so maybe they can track it back to when it first happened. I would guess that if it has been there a while the drug in question will be expired. Take it with you to the supervisory staff, so they can see the drug for themselves. Or, on a different ethical level, see if you can convince some "insurgent" employees to take it off your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becksdad Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Oops, sorry, I was typing when it was posted that the box in the truck wouldn't be checked. Doesn't change anything, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridryder 911 Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Been in a similar incident. Discussed with a DEA (Medical Division) Agent of "what to do"?.. Was informed to make a note/log about it and witness a waste by 2 licensed personal as usual. Now, if you were short medication that is a different story. I was told this is not that unusual of a circumstance in companies such as pharmacies, etc.. and they personally have much bigger issues to deal with than a 10-20 mg of Morphine.. He described that local institutions and boards are much harsher than they would be...and internal police is much more effective ..... R/r 911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becksdad Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 You know, something about this scenario has been tickling the back of my mind..... We are considering this within the realm of OUR world. Dustdevil's world, I think, is a whole lot different. I could concieve of some circumstances in a world defined by catastrophe where any commodity (including morphine) could serve a true humanitarian purpose. AZCEP alluded to this I think. In which case it remains for each person to decide morally their own responsibility. From that perspective, I would hesitate to judge anothers decisions. I'm just not sure now. Wow, this will be rolling around in my head for a while now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyM83 Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Tell all the other medics individually that you're thinking of carrying some morphine in the rig...hand it to them to take to the narc box. See if they come back with a confused expression....or if they come back and say, "all taken care of". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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