Operational Medicine 2001
Give an IM Injection

Choose an injection site. The three most favored are:

1. The middle third of the deltoid muscle in the shoulder.
2. The upper, outer quadrant of the buttock. This area avoids major blood vessels and nerves.
3. The anterior, lateral surface of the thigh.

Prepare your syringe and needle. Pointing the syringe straight up, check to make sure there is no free air in the syringe. If you see some, depress the plunger, expelling the air, until injection fluid starts to squirt out the top.

Cleanse the skin with an antiseptic solution, such as alcohol.

Using a quick motion, drive the needle straight through the skin and into the muscle. Stabilizing the muscle with your other hand while you do this helps for a smoother injection. Make sure you are entering the muscle at a perpendicular (90 degrees) angle.

Draw back on the plunger to make sure you haven't entered a blood vessel:

• If you get an immediate blood return, withdraw the needle completely and try again with a fresh needle.
• If you don't get any blood return, then go ahead and inject with a steady, smooth motion.

Once the injection is complete, withdraw the needle and briefly massage the injection site.

This material was developed from A1701-78-1113V, "Injections: Intramuscular" Health Sciences Media Division, US Army Medical Department C&S, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited.

The listing of any non-Federal product in this CD is not an endorsement of the product itself, but simply an acknowledgement of the source. 

Operational Medicine 2001
Health Care in Military Settings

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