20/12/2025
Penthrox: Raising the Standard of Pain Relief at Events
Pain is one of the most common reasons people visit an event medical centre, and one of the hardest things to manage well outside hospital.
Penthrox® is an inhaled pain relief used for moderate to severe acute pain, particularly following injury. It works quickly, doesn’t require injections or IV access, and allows patients to control their own pain relief by breathing it in as needed.
As an Victoria Department of Health Licensed Intermediate First Aid Service provider, Emergency Medical Response we carry Penthrox out across our entire frontline team, with full training, competency assessment, and clinical governance in place.
It is stocked in:
• All response bags
• All vehicles
• All on-site medical centres
Why does this matter?
Because at events, injuries such as fractures, dislocations and significant soft-tissue injuries don’t always happen neatly next to a treatment room. Effective pain relief early on scene can reduce distress, improve cooperation, and make treatment and movement safer for everyone involved.
In Victoria, options for managing acute pain in pre-hospital and event settings are often very limited when using your own volunteer First Aiders. Penthrox fills an important gap, providing fast, effective analgesia with a Licensed First Aid Service Provider while avoiding unnecessary escalation or hospital conveyance for pain alone.
This is what good event medicine looks like:
✔️ Treating pain, not just injuries
✔️ Supporting dignity and comfort
✔️ Investing in training and governance, not shortcuts
✔️ Giving our team the confidence to act appropriately
It’s not about over-medicalising events.
It’s about really caring properly for people when they’re hurt.
This is another quiet example of how we continue to raise the standard of care at every event we cover.
For further information see:
https://emergencymedicalresponse.zone/