Opioids: I just keep my old supplies around -- knee surgery, shoulder surgery, dental implant -- all the doctors prescribe way more than I ever need.
As a Sierra Club Outings leader - wishing to be protect my hikers to the best of my ability, I found three constraints.
1) Sierra Club - don't carry pharmaceuticals - for legal reasons.
2) St. Johns First Aid Certification - don't carry pharmaceuticals - for legal reasons.
3) Doctor prescribed drugs - don't carry them either - for legal reasons.
So, I needed to set a worst-case boundary. At the time I was leading trips where a miss-step could easily lead to a broken extremity with no possibility of chopper extraction until after dawn the next day.
So I carried a splint, to help prevent further permanent damage. My doctor (D.) at the time gave me samples of Tramadol, which is a non-masking pain-killer. Which means vital signs are not affected, so that the professionals could see the real situation - or something like that. The stress of staying overnight on the trail could also be dealt with by a small sample of Valium. I also carried samples of Klonapin for the very rare anxiety attack. That little yellow pill is magic.
So, in several cases, I indicated to the "victim" that if they wished to take some medication, they should look in a particular pocket of my pack. I didn't directly provide it, and Dr. D didn't prescribe it and a hiker benefited.
I expect to be torn apart by the the multiple legitimate doctors on this site. However, I've witnessed a young lady go from vagus disaster to normal in 10 minutes with a simple Klonapin dosage.
Perhaps we should start a new thread here...
