I think only having narcotics to treat pain is ridiculous. Even chronic back pain should be treated. "Suck it up" and "you can wait" doesn't seem like a treatment plan to me.
Perhaps not by a narcotic, but if you have nothing else, it seems a bit inhumane to just watch the person suffer. Just my opinion.
I think medical direction that only permits the use of narcotics might be a bit lacking.
Well that is the reality for a large number of departments/services. And I am in total agreement with Farmer2DO, not everyone with "10/10" pain is getting a narc, which is my only option pre-hospital, they will get assessed and treated based on both subjective and objective findings.