5. OBTAINING AN OVERDOSE HISTORY ▪ Obtain all prescription bottles and other containers when possible. Perform a pill count. Be sure that the bottles contain the medications listed. Identify any unknown tablets. ▪ Contact the prescribing physician(s) or the pharmacy as listed on the bottles to determine previous overdoses or other medications that the patient may have available. Identify underlying medical and psychiatric disorders and medication allergies. Review past medical records. ▪ Talk to the patient's family and friends in the emergency department. If necessary, call the patient's home to ask questions of others. The persons providing the important elements of the history should be identified in the chart. ▪ Search the patient's belongings for drugs or drug paraphernalia. A single pill hidden in a pocket, for example, may provide the most important clue to the diagnosis. ▪ Have family members (or the police) search the patient's home, including the medicine cabinet, clothes drawers, closets, and garage: such searches may also provide clues that make the diagnosis. This has the added benefit of involving the family in the patient's care. ▪ Always look for track marks on the patient. Consider body packing or body stuffing.