# Jelco IV insertion tips



## dcolbert3 (Apr 16, 2015)

Let me hear em'! Having trouble with these caths


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## Underoath87 (Apr 16, 2015)

Well, what issues are you having with them? 
I think they're a lot easier to use than other designs (especially those tiny BD and Braun ones that require you to pull out the needle and spill blood vs advancing the catheter).


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## dcolbert3 (Apr 16, 2015)

Seem to shear the vein more often with them when i'm trying to pull back the needle to lock it while advancing the cath


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## Underoath87 (Apr 16, 2015)

IDK how much I can help, since they're what I mainly learned with.  But I focus on getting a flash, advancing the needle another 2mm, then smoothly and slowly advancing the catheter into the vein rather than pulling the needle back.  Hopefully that helped.  If not, at least it got some traffic on your thread.


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## NomadicMedic (Apr 16, 2015)

dcolbert3 said:


> Let me hear em'! Having trouble with these caths



Practice more.


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## Tigger (Apr 16, 2015)

I hated them, although I didn't have to use them very often. I found that you had to be conscious of making sure your movements were very linear when retracting the needle into the barrel of the unit. Otherwise you move the whole thing around too much. I don't have this issue with other catheters that are not such massive units.


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## chaz90 (Apr 17, 2015)

They just require a little bit of adjustment and getting used to them. I originally learned to start IVs with Insyte Autoguards and it took me a couple weeks to become proficient with the Jelco. Now I am way more comfortable using the Jelco and actually carry a 20G Jelco in my uniform for tough sticks when I'm working at a station that only has Autoguards. 

General IV tips still apply. I always felt that the Jelcos require slightly more insertion post flash than the Autoguards. I initially struggled with not advancing my Jelcos far enough post flash and had many IV attempts fail to advance. I also think that they seem "sharper" somehow and easier to advance through both sides of the vein, but also easier to penetrate slightly tough skin. YMMV, but these have always been my incredibly unscientific and anecdotal feelings on the matter. Practice more and you're bound to improve.


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## Another German (Apr 18, 2015)

Hey Folks,

i know, EMS in the US are using different types of "IV devices" than we in Germany (and many parts of Europe). Had one of you ever made experience with these kind of IV´s (see the picture)?







Quite easy to apply, easy to fix (if necessary, you can can sew it onto the patients skin). At the end you only apply your infusion and if you want to apply any medication, you have a port for this reason at the top of the IV. By the way............in Germany it is permitted by law, to use IV devices and needles (in hospital an EMS for example) without a security measurement against "stabbing wounds" through IV devices. Usually if you put out the steel mandrin of the IV, a security measurment pops over the sharp end of the neddle (which can´t be removed).

Greetings


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## Brandon O (Apr 18, 2015)

Haven't seen 'em. Never seen a peripheral IV you can suture in place, in fact.


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## NomadicMedic (Apr 18, 2015)

Brandon O said:


> Haven't seen 'em. Never seen a peripheral IV you can suture in place, in fact.



...these are very common in vet medicine. My wife uses them frequently. She said they're great for horses and large dogs. You can just throw a couple of quick stitches in place and wrap coban around them.


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## chaz90 (Apr 18, 2015)

Another German said:


> Hey Folks,
> 
> i know, EMS in the US are using different types of "IV devices" than we in Germany (and many parts of Europe). Had one of you ever made experience with these kind of IV´s (see the picture)?
> 
> ...


Cool! What's the device on the top with the hole?


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## NomadicMedic (Apr 18, 2015)

chaz90 said:


> Cool! What's the device on the top with the hole?



It's a med port


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## Brandon O (Apr 18, 2015)

DEmedic said:


> ...these are very common in vet medicine. My wife uses them frequently. She said they're great for horses and large dogs. You can just throw a couple of quick stitches in place and wrap coban around them.



Hard to tape to fur I guess...


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## chaz90 (Apr 18, 2015)

DEmedic said:


> It's a med port


Huh. Separate from the line itself that I'm assuming still attaches to the back?


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## NomadicMedic (Apr 18, 2015)

chaz90 said:


> Huh. Separate from the line itself that I'm assuming still attaches to the back?


Yeah. Strange.  When I did my medic internship, the Franciscan hospitals in Washington were using IV catheters that had an extention set already attached. There's a lot of goofy stuff out there. And as an aside, the vet catheters don't have any safety engineering controls. They're just straight up catheters with regular sharps, like the old days.


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## chaz90 (Apr 18, 2015)

DEmedic said:


> Yeah. Strange.  When I did my medic internship, the Franciscan hospitals in Washington were using IV catheters that had an extention set already attached. There's a lot of goofy stuff out there. And as an aside, the vet catheters don't have any safety engineering controls. They're just straight up catheters with regular sharps, like the old days.


Did they look anything like these?






These were the bane of my existence in paramedic school. The nurses at Medical Center of Aurora loved them after getting used to them, but I only ever used them often enough to achieve an IV success rate somewhere south of 50% with that device. There are likely still some patients in the metro Denver area who recoil with fear and PTSD when they see someone coming at them with an IV set up.


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## NomadicMedic (Apr 18, 2015)

Those are them (or very similar)
I was ... ehh... not very competent with them. 

"A regular jelco though..." (he said, getting back on topic)


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## Tigger (Apr 18, 2015)

chaz90 said:


> Did they look anything like these?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I just can't even...


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## NomadicMedic (Apr 18, 2015)

Tigger said:


> I just can't even...



#3rdAttempt


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## PotatoMedic (Apr 18, 2015)

I really like them.  Besides getting the needle to retract I have had no issues with inserting them.  I also like the bd needles.  Really the only kind I don't like are the spring loaded ones.


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## dcolbert3 (Apr 18, 2015)

These are the ones. Actually got a 20g in a pts hand last night. Technique is everything... I am now always advancing the catheter all the way before retracting my needle.


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## Anjel (Apr 19, 2015)

We use them. I always forget to loosen the catheter before I stick. I've had a couple get stuck. And I could not get it to advance no matter how hard I tried. 

I even held the needle and had my partner try and advance the catheter and it wouldn't budge.

I'm pretty sure I learned my lesson now. I haven't had any problems recently.


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## Anjel (Apr 19, 2015)

Oh I didn't see the last post. That's not the kind we use. 






That is. Most of ours don't have a safety guard either. Pull it out and it's just the needle.


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## dcolbert3 (Apr 19, 2015)

I actually like the old school ones where there is no safety guard and the needle just comes straight out. I had no troubles with those IV setups.


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## NomadicMedic (Apr 19, 2015)

dcolbert3 said:


> I actually like the old school ones where there is no safety guard and the needle just comes straight out. I had no troubles with those IV setups.



Unfortunately others did. I also remember sharps being stuck in anything soft, like the bench seat and stretcher mattress. Much better to have safety sharps.


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## hogwiley (Apr 22, 2015)

Anjel said:


> Oh I didn't see the last post. That's not the kind we use.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



These are definitely my favorite. When I was doing my medic clinicals I think I nailed my first 8 IVs with these, I thought I was an IV prodigy. Then I did shifts at another hospital that used another kind and my success rate dropped.

Where I work now we mostly use Jelco. I have mixed feelings about them.


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## cruiseforever (Apr 22, 2015)

DEmedic said:


> Unfortunately others did. I also remember sharps being stuck in anything soft, like the bench seat and stretcher mattress. Much better to have safety sharps.


 
Or just being left between the seat and the wall, just waiting to poke someone in the butt.


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