[Narcosis within the scope of preclinical care]

Narcosis applied in emergency care is a possibility of offering pain relief to the emergency patient. Over and above this, however, it has become increasingly important to prevent pathophysiological changes resulting from the state of shock of the patient. Nevertheless, this measure should be restricted to skilled personnel only, provided of course that the emergency service in question is adequately equipped both technically and with suitable drugs. A decisive role is played by the drugs selected for this purpose. The article describes the pros and cons of various drugs administered via the intravenous route to induce narcosis. So far, there is no ideal drug for this purpose. It will always be necessary to arrive at a compromise and to adapt the drug to the individual situation and to the extent of basic damage suffered by the emergency patient.