On-site emergency treatment of injured or unconscious patients, using

Abstract

A method and device are disclosed which enable on-site pre-diagnostic emergency treatment of people suffering from life-threatening injuries (such as victims of auto accidents, shootings, stabbings, and near-drownings), or from a collapse or loss of consciousness that might be due to a heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest, internal hemorrhage, or various other causes that cannot be diagnosed until after a physician or ambulance has arrived on the scene. This on-site pre-diagnostic emergency treatment involves intravenous injection of fructose-1,6-diphosphate (FDP, a naturally-occurring chemical which functions as an intermediate in glycolysis) into the patient. Such injections can be administered by police, firemen, military personnel, lifeguards, nursing home attendants, ambulance attendants, or anyone else who has been trained to administer intravenous injections. The FDP should be injected into the patient as soon as possible, without delaying until the patient can be diagnosed and treated by a doctor. When administered immediately, intravenously injected FDP can reduce ischemic or hypoxic damage to the internal organs, without having any adverse effects or posing any significant risks for patients who may not need it. Injection kits which include vials containing partially lyophilized FDP (which does not require refrigeration), sterile water for reconstitution of the freeze-dried FDP, and a syringe with hypodermic needles are also disclosed, in a hard-shell case that can withstand rough handling, as might occur in a police car or firetruck.