Glass morphine ampoules how do you use them (museum Central Armed Forces Museum of Russian Federation)

[arantxa]

How does one use these ie inject it 

[Dust Jacket Collector]

You’d normally snap the neck off and then use a syringe with a needle.

[arantxa]

so you still use a syringe i didnt know if you stuck the piece of glass into your arm 

[mancpal]

I’m so glad you are not my doctor.

Simon

[Dust Jacket Collector]

18 minutes ago, arantxa said:

so you still use a syringe i didnt know if you stuck the piece of glass into your arm 

I fear that would cause even more damage. The pack would probably come with a short metal saw used to score the glass neck to make it easier to snap.

[GWF1967]

38 minutes ago, arantxa said:

How does one use these ie inject it 

Morphine is a controlled substance so I believe it is still illegal to possess these despite their age. 

[DavidOwen]

Covered under the Medicines Act and Misuse of Drugs Act Medicines Act 1968 (legislation.gov.uk) and  Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (legislation.gov.uk)

It is legal to take possession of such items for the purposes of destroying them, however they would have to be destroyed.

There may be a defence in that due to age the contents may have denatured.

[arantxa]

good job this is a pic from a museum then 

[DavidOwen]

1 minute ago, arantxa said:

good job this is a pic from a museum then 

In which case you must attribute the source or it will be removed. Please edit your first post accordingly.

[charlie2]

They are of German origin if you didn‘t already know.

Charlie

[rksimpson]

5 hours ago, DavidOwen said:

may have denatured

Certainly would have denatured, it should be a clear solution and morphine amps these days have about a 2 year shelf life.

I would not inject or even ingest those ones!

There would not be any morphine in them.

 

regards

Robert

[arantxa]

 It just seemed a very fiddly way to have to use them ..so could a wounded soldier use a morphine amp themselves or would only the medical officers have the needles for injecting …if that’s the case why did individual soldiers carry them 

[tootrock]

What is the volume in one of those vials, and what would the volume of a typical injection be?

Martin

[Dust Jacket Collector]

Looks like a couple of mls. Would they have been effective by mouth?

[Dust Jacket Collector]

5 minutes ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

Looks like a couple of mls. Would they have been effective by mouth?

To answer my own question, yes it can be taken orally just somewhat less effective. Maybe we need a doctor here!

[arantxa]

Always useful to have a Doctor and lawyer in the family 

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

56 minutes ago, tootrock said:

what would the volume of a typical injection be?

18 minutes ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

Looks like a couple of mls.

Yes,1 to 2 mls.

Yes it would have denatured, but not sure into what...

Yes,morphine can be taken by mouth, but absorption from GI tract would be variable,especially in a wounded soldier in haemorrhagic shock.

All other things being equal, 15mg of morphine taken orally for a first dose, only has the efficacy of 7.5-12mg given IM.

Thereafter, enzymes induced in the liver mean that higher and higher doses are required to achieve the same effect.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

I wonder, did the German troops actually carry these? Might be a little unsafe unless they were trained in their use. Lying in a shell hole with some ghastly shrapnel wound you’d probably swallow the whole lot which might not be a good idea.

[Michelle Young]

I’ve read that soldiers received grains of morphia when wounded, administered orally or sublingual. Then crosses were marked on their forehead to show how many grains. I think officers carried these grains with them. 

[arantxa]

That’s interesting ….maybe a medical officer carried these ? I was told that often bits in boxes cardboard were carried in trenches etc as disposable where as things in tins were used in hospitals …but I was only told that 

[Simon Birch]

17 hours ago, arantxa said:

good job this is a pic from a museum then 

Well said!

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

9 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

I’ve read that soldiers received grains of morphia when wounded, administered orally or sublingual. Then crosses were marked on their forehead to show how many grains. I think officers carried these grains with them. 

Grains as in rice, or as in Troy weight?

[Michelle Young]

Presumably weight.

[DavidOwen]

Apothecary measure  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_(unit)

[charlie2]

As the Ampules of Morphium hydrochloricum 0.02g are of German origin any reference to british weights and measures is irrelevant.

From Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apothecaries'_system

„Another reform in 1856 increased the civil pound from 467.711 g to 500.000 g (the German civil pound defined by the Zollverein), as a first step towards metrication. As a consequence the official apothecaries' pound was now 375.000 g, i.e. it was increased by 7%, and it was now very close to the troy standards. §4 of the law that introduced this reform said: "Further, a pharmaceutical weight deviating from the civil weight does not take place." But this paragraph was suspended until further notice.^[71]

The abolishment of the apothecaries' system meant that doctors' prescriptions had to take place in terms of the current civil weight: grammes and kilograms. This was considered unfeasible by many, and the state received numerous protests and asked for expertises.^[72] Nevertheless, by 1868 §4 of the earlier reform was finally put into force.^[73]“

According to the German medical report (Sanitätsbericht über das Deutsche Heer) the ampules were held by the medical services in various quantities, there is no reference to them being held by the individual soldiers for self use.

Charlie