Can you safely draw saline from the IV tubing port?
- Thread starter Beaux
- Start date
It is safe
Thanks!
I witnessed this being done in a medic unit that for some reason, was not well stocked with flushes. Saline was drawn up from an in-use IV tube (not the bag) on one patient, and then used to flush the line of another patient.
Seemed odd to me but you would know better than I, thanks again.
In theory, yes, but as others have said, I don't know anyone who would.
What I have seen done, though, is drawing flushes out of bags not connected to a patient-- making a few flushes out of a 100cc bag, and using them over the course of the day (capping the syringes, of course). My sense is that they're not shelf stable outside of 12 or 24 hours, but can be used over a shift.
What I have seen done, though, is drawing flushes out of bags not connected to a patient-- making a few flushes out of a 100cc bag, and using them over the course of the day (capping the syringes, of course). My sense is that they're not shelf stable outside of 12 or 24 hours, but can be used over a shift.
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Same patient, why not. Different patient I wouldn't. You can draw it right out of the bag even if it's hanging....I'd be more willing to do that rather than out of a med-port.
mikie
Forum Lurker
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Please tell me this was in a military or some sort of remote setting?
If you're wondering this for use with patient care, I strongly encourage you to ask your service's administrators or supervisors for an official policy or statement... relying on the advice of a semi-anonymous internet forum is generally a bad idea when there's a chance things can go wrong...
Thanks to everyone for the replies.
This occurred in a busy urban service, I was just a ride along on the call. I don't know much about IVs/fluids as I'm not trained to use them. I felt like what I saw was odd though, so I figured I would ask here. I asked the medic who drew up the saline and he said that he wouldnt normally do this but was out of flushes.
So outside of this being abnormal for a provider to do, is the second patient at risk for contracting something through this technique? Most of you seem to think its safe...just the wrong thing to do.
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I would consider it unconventional, but generally safe. I would clamp below the port before drawing fluid though. Personally, I'd rather simply get another bag and draw from that bag instead of a currently flowing line that's going to another patient. Then I'd just label that new bag as IV flush solution as I'd have drawn the volume below the full level, potentially several times over.
bigbaldguy
Former medic seven years 911 service in houston
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I'm not ALS but I've seen blood back up a good distance into a IV line. Even if the line appears clear there is still a potential that contamination is present. I can't see how this would be a good idea under any circumstances outside of absolute worst case scenario. Even if it is the same patient you could be introducing blood particles that have been in the IV line for several minutes back into the patient.
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While I do not think there is a high likelihood that this caused any harm to either patient, this is certainly not best practice.
I can almost certainly promise that if this happened in a hospital or any service I have ever worked for the person would have been written up at least, and very likely fired.
What a sloppy, un-educated, haphazard way to operate.
I can almost certainly promise that if this happened in a hospital or any service I have ever worked for the person would have been written up at least, and very likely fired.
What a sloppy, un-educated, haphazard way to operate.
I know nothing about medicine, so forgive my ignorance and lack of proper termanology, but would it make a difference if the IV was connected to an IV lock instead of just directly to the catheter?
The medic had put a lock on the patient and connected the IV to that. Does the lock prevent anything from getting backed up into the IV line?
bigbaldguy
Former medic seven years 911 service in houston
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Not with enough certainty that I would trust it no. I suspect the medic in this case was probably too lazy (or just forgot) to stock the truck with enough flushes and then was too lazy to go back and get them when they ran out.
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No, the leur lock tip only serves to keep fluid from leaking out when nothing is attached. Once the tubing is screwed into it, the lock is pushed open and remains open. It has no control over back flow.
Can you imagine if for mass casualty events we had a large saline bag that attached to a single drip chamber with multiple primary tubing lines going to multiple patients? This is about as absurd as what the medic in question did. The more I think about this scenario the more I get irritated. It is things like this that make the rest of the health care community look at EMS like a vocation and not a profession.
The worst part is that you witnessed it on a ride along, and were given the impression that it was ok. For all this guy knows you could go out and do this for the rest of your career...what an absolute disgrace.
Can you imagine if for mass casualty events we had a large saline bag that attached to a single drip chamber with multiple primary tubing lines going to multiple patients? This is about as absurd as what the medic in question did. The more I think about this scenario the more I get irritated. It is things like this that make the rest of the health care community look at EMS like a vocation and not a profession.
The worst part is that you witnessed it on a ride along, and were given the impression that it was ok. For all this guy knows you could go out and do this for the rest of your career...what an absolute disgrace.