So we're letting people drop off old prescription meds at work, and I was bored and rummaging through the bags and found an epi pen. I pulled it out of the case, saw it was expired, and then behold I saw that it was unused.
Being the mischevious guy that I am I pulled the safety cap off, used the edges of my thumbs to depress the barrel, and POW! Wow. That needle shot out of there with enough force to drive through a 2x4. Looked big too. Shot the epi clear across the room. I was impressed.
You want to inject it into the lateral upper thigh. Its such a powerful force that you don't even have to take off your pants to inject it....even if you were wearing jeans!
thanks for the reply i just wanted to get some better clarification on it. :)
I've heard of someone stabbing them self in the thumb with one, having the epi go into their thumb, and having tissue damage in their thumb from the epi vasoconstricting it. Not a great idea to play with it.
LOL, lucky you! I have the exact same story about 3 years ago, only the thing shot right into my thumb! The other nurses and the doc I was working with almost wet their pants laughing. Talk about a crazy rush: Legs like jelly, shaking, pulse 135, then my thumb stayed white and cold for a good 24 hours! LOL
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
So either the wall, or the ceiling, has a needlestick injury!?!?
Better get busy with that paperwork!
I don't know - I'm imagining people dropping off wrinkly old paper bags with God knows what in them with some of it dating to 1972 - tossed in a drawer with taped up Zip-loc bags with insy-squinty writing written with a leaking ballpoint pen . .(typical self-packaging of the aged set) bored employees -- I don't knoooowwww . . .sounds like a recipe for trouble for sure!!
Lucky it did not hit you in the eye. Guess you are not a safety person? Safety comes first. Lucky you did not hurt someone else either. My son carried one for like 15 years and thank goodness we never had to use it. I never shot one that expired. Just never was curious enough to see what would happen. Probably would of scared me have to death.
But you do have to admit some of the responses are funny. But I do not recommend doing this. :)
I saw the title and had to toss in my two cents! I used to be the rep for EpiPen and in the midst of nursing school. EpiPen is near and dear to my heart. I remember an allergy nurse that told me a story of bringing in a new MA to show her how the device worked. She grabbed a trainer, put it to the correct position on her thigh and went for it. She had explained that with the trainer you will hear a click, how to reset it, etc. The problem was...the nurse had grabbed a live, expired EpiPen, that had been left by a patient. The nurse ended up giving herself an injection of epinephrine! Imagine the shock when you think you are working with a training device and voila...she ended up with a nice strong HR and everyone around just couldn't stop laughing.
Anyway, part of my job entailed instructing health care professionals, patients and their families, how to use the EpiPen. It isn't difficult but when your natural adrenaline is through the roof due to anaphylaxis occurring right in front of you, simple instructions learned long ago can fail you :-)
I have several epipens about... after an episode of anyphalactic shock I had to start carrying one. My doc said to keep them (though I do get a yearly refill), b/c they only lose 5-10% potency a year after expiration. So even if I had an old one it was better than none... is that true?
I'd better make sure my son doesn't get ahold of any of them, I can just see it now - the tree, a shoe, the dog...
LOL, lucky you! I have the exact same story about 3 years ago, only the thing shot right into my thumb! The other nurses and the doc I was working with almost wet their pants laughing. Talk about a crazy rush: Legs like jelly, shaking, pulse 135, then my thumb stayed white and cold for a good 24 hours! LOL
From the way you all have described the epi pen I think I would have wet my pants if I shot one into my thumb:eek:
Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.
Glad it entertaned you, but on a serious not people have lost digits accident injecting themselves with Epi using an Epi Pen... it is not a good device to fool aroung with! Just sayin
Glad it entertaned you, but on a serious not people have lost digits accident injecting themselves with Epi using an Epi Pen... it is not a good device to fool aroung with! Just sayin
Wouldn't an unintentional firing of an epipen into a digit cause a pressure injury and really jack up one of your fingers?
Lucky it did not hit you in the eye. Guess you are not a safety person? Safety comes first. Lucky you did not hurt someone else either. My son carried one for like 15 years and thank goodness we never had to use it. I never shot one that expired. Just never was curious enough to see what would happen. Probably would of scared me have to death.
But you do have to admit some of the responses are funny. But I do not recommend doing this. :)
Actually, yeah, I have been an organizational safety manager before. Moved off to do other things.
new_worker
43 Posts
thanks for the reply i just wanted to get some better clarification on it. :)