Intrusive thought
Antidepressants which have been shown to be effective in treating OCD include fluvoxamine (trade name Luvox), fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), citalopram (Celexa), and clomipramine (Anafranil). Although SSRIs are known to be effective for OCD in general, there have been fewer studies on their effectiveness for intrusive thoughts. A retrospective chart review of patients with sexual symptoms treated with SSRIs showed the greatest improvement was in those with intrusive sexual obsessions typical of OCD. A study of ten patients with religious or blasphemous obsessions found that most patients responded to treatment with fluoxetine or clomipramine. Women with postpartum depression often have anxiety as well, and may need lower starting doses of SSRIs; they may not respond fully to the medication, and may benefit from adding cognitive behavioral or response prevention therapy.
Outdoor Emergency Care
Drugs within the scope of practice of OEC include Epinephrine, albuterol, nitroglycerin, oral glucose, activated charcoal, aspirin for AMI, and oxygen therapy. In general, the patient must provide their own medications, already prescribed by a physician, in order to be assisted with them by the OEC technician. This is partially due to the fact that the OEC technician does not have access to the prescription controlled drugs epinephrine, albuterol, or nitroglycerin; thus they must be provided by the patient. These are medications typically carried by patients in most situations. In addition, the technician may not "administer" these medications to the patient, but may simply "assist" the patient in taking it themselves. This includes identifying the appropriate situation in which to do so. The degree to which the technicians' help constitutes "assisting" is vaguely defined, and it is thus is considered that the OEC technician is given a wide berth of discretion in this regard. The rule regarding patients providing their own medications does not apply to the "drugs" oral glucose, activated charcoal, aspirin, or oxygen as the first two are not pharmacologically active; aspirin and oxygen have very few contraindications; they are not prescription controlled (except medical oxygen, which is not prescribed per patient, but rather per institution); and none are typically carried by patients. Thus, the OEC technician typically has access to these four interventions and may assist in their administration as warranted.