A friend of mine recently began work as an EMT on an ambulance. When he was in training, he asked me if I could get my father (a doctor) to give him a perscription for sterile saline, which, he claimed, was not available over the counter.
Is sterile saline perscription only in California?
If so, why? And isn’t the contact lens stuff they sell at supermarkets and drug stores sterile saline?
Contact lens solutions are basically saline, but many contain preservatives (usually thimoersal, a mercury compound) and other things not necessarily suitable for dumping directly into the bloodstream.
Presumably the stuff your friend wants is pure sterile saline (i.e. just salt and distilled water). I can understand why it might not sell over the counter (low demand, short shelf life). Why he’d have to get his own supply of the stuff, I have no idea – the ambulance company should provide it.
This recipe courtesy Mrs. Shiva RN BSN.
Boil 4 cups water for 20 minutes.
Add 2 Tbsp. salt.
That’s it.
When she was a home health care nurse she used this all the time when her patients had wounds that needed frequent irrigation.