FIELD REFERENCE
Full criteria & treatment guidance
Indications
- Temporary relief of minor pain and fever, according to the actual OTC tablet label.
Contraindications & local exclusions
- The cited OTC label excludes prior allergic reaction to a pain reliever/fever reducer and use just before/after heart surgery.
Precautions
- Stomach bleeding risk, cardiovascular warnings and interactions require label review. Pregnancy, renal disease, anticoagulants and other NSAID use need the label’s advice; this is FS-ARN scope only.
- These are selected safety checks, not a complete prescribing monograph. Product labeling and OCEMS authorization answer different questions; confirm the actual product, patient population and applicable order.
Scope & authority
- FS-ARN scope only; this listing is not a general ALS/BLS administration order.
- SO-F-02 supplies no pediatric field regimen.
Adult / adolescent
- SO-F-02 permits an authorized Fire Service RN to maintain this listed OTC product/category while functioning in the fire-service role. It is made available to firefighting personnel without a known allergy to the product.
- Use this medication only for the indications and doses printed on its container. OCEMS does not publish a universal dose for this product. Eligible personnel must obtain the medication from its container without assistance.
Pediatric
- SO-F-02 applies to adult and adolescent fire-service personnel. It does not authorize pediatric 9-1-1 dosing, and this page does not add consumer pediatric doses.
- Do not convert a package’s consumer pediatric directions into OCEMS field authority. Use an applicable pediatric standing order or medical direction for a child requiring care.
Pediatric dosing availability
- SO-F-02 supplies no pediatric 9-1-1 dosing or administration authority. This page does not add consumer pediatric doses.
| Weight | OCEMS pediatric dose |
|---|---|
| Any weight | No general OCEMS pediatric dose is listed; follow the applicable order or medical direction. |
Use, monitoring & documentation
- Identify the exact product, active ingredients, strength, and label before use; products in a named OTC category can have different formulations.
- Follow the product’s labeled indications, exclusions, dose, and interval within the authorized program. The absence of an EMS numerical dose here is intentional: SO-F-02 delegates those details to the product label.
UNDERSTAND THE CARE
Keep the OTC program separate from field analgesia authority
Identify the exact ibuprofen strength and formulation and review the selected label with recent medication use. A product available over the counter still has product-specific exclusions. Its appearance in the fire-service supply list does not create a general 9-1-1 analgesia order. The linked OCEMS document establishes the program context; a product-specific label answers a different question about the selected preparation.
Applying the guidance
Confirm that the person and setting fit the FS-ARN program before using the supply listing. Then reconcile the container, ingredients, strength, route and label with the intended use and document what was actually used. If the exact product is not established, retain that uncertainty rather than filling the gap with a consumer dose from another formulation. The pediatric limitation remains explicit.
Diagram text & teaching checkpoints
- Program
- Eligible FS-ARN setting and personnel.
- Identity
- Exact product, ingredients and formulation.
- Label
- Current directions, allergy and exclusions.
- Record
- Product and actual amount; no invented pediatric regimen.
Sources for this explanation
Original OCMedic teaching synthesis of the references below. Educational expansion updated ; this is not a new independent clinical-review date. Source-specific dates and limitations remain in the full guidance.
Review the product and recent medication together
Use the bottle in hand to identify the strength and formulation before interpreting a reported tablet count. “I took two pain tablets” is incomplete medication history. Ask which product was taken and when, and compare that history with the actual label’s warnings and instructions. Do not assume that a familiar brand name always identifies the same ingredients.
The listed OTC use remains within the eligible FS-ARN setting. SO-F-02 makes the product available to firefighting personnel without a known allergy, with use following the container directions and the person obtaining the medication without assistance. It does not establish a new ambulance analgesia standing order.
For example, a responder asking for another OTC pain product after taking medication earlier in the shift needs a product-level review before availability is treated as suitability. Keep the package and the recent-use history together. If a patient needs clinical evaluation or an EMS analgesia pathway, use that pathway rather than expanding this supply-list entry.
Source: Over the Counter (OTC) Medications.