Saline lock?

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BayEMTmaybeP

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Hello everyone, dumb question but looking for clarification.

I have recently done some ALS level ride alongs, when learning to set up the IV for the paramedic, we had the bag of fluid, a 10 or 60 drop tubing set, and a 'lock' or extension set?

Can someone clarify the lock or extension set? Is this what the medication is pushed through?

I would appreciate if anyone had any information I could read on the 'anatomy of an IV' if you will

thank you!
 
NPO

NPO

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BayEMTmaybeP said:
Hello everyone, dumb question but looking for clarification.

I have recently done some ALS level ride alongs, when learning to set up the IV for the paramedic, we had the bag of fluid, a 10 or 60 drop tubing set, and a 'lock' or extension set?

Can someone clarify the lock or extension set? Is this what the medication is pushed through?

I would appreciate if anyone had any information I could read on the 'anatomy of an IV' if you will

thank you!
Click to expand...
When you establish IV access you create an open line into the vein. You use a saline lock as a sort of one way valve to stop the person from bleeding out from the IV. When you attach fluids or push medications, it's usually through an IV lock attached to an IV.

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NomadicMedic

NomadicMedic

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You use a lock if you need/want access, but the patient doesn't need a bag of fluid running. You can easily push meds, followed by a flush, through the lock.

You also attach the IV drip set to the lock, if you do give fluids. It's easier than trying to attatch anything to the hub of the IV.
 
hometownmedic5

hometownmedic5

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The principal purpose and benefit of the lock is so you can disconnect the fluid and still have a sealed IV. Before the advent of locks, and to this day in some settings, you connected the drip set directly to the IV hub. This causes all sorts of problems, namely you midst always have a bag attached.

There really isnt much more to add to the "anatomy of an IV" as you put it. Catheter, lock(extension, j loop, whatever your nomenclature is), drip set, bag.
 
Summit

Summit

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In the Denver metro, saline locks are also known as "buff caps" since they were developed at CU (mascot Buffalo).
 
Akulahawk

Akulahawk

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BayEMTmaybeP said:
Thanks everyone, is a picc line the same as a lock?
Click to expand...
In a very stretched sense of things, yes. The PICC is a "Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter" and basically is a very long IV that runs from (usually) an arm up through the veins, terminating in the Superior Vena Cava. Maintaining them is intensive and requires great care because these catheters can be a source of infection that leads quickly to sepsis. PICC lines can be used for either intermittent infusions or they can be used for continuous infusions. In either event, when they're not in use, they're flushed with a very specific amount of heparin and locked to prevent clotting off.
 
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