Sapphire pump programming

[VentMonkey]

Okay, so if a patient has an infusion running, you’d just connect a half set to the admin set already there and just have more tubing? It’s just a luer lock at each end and a pump cassette in the middle?

All we ever use is full sets with our sapphire pumps.

I feel like an idiot for not knowing that.

Correct you are, sir. My guess is if, as you’ve stated, you aren’t doing a whole lot of IFT/ CCT infusions then it’s optional (and cost effective) and makes more sense to run an infusion with the entire (full) set.

I know for us, we’re utilizing them anytime we start our own drips. If the infusion is pre-existing then it’s often at the discretion of the providers whether they want to use the hospital’s tubing (that much more to entangle) and attach one of our half sets, or use a full set from our bag.

 

[DesertMedic66]

Correct you are, sir. My guess is if, as you’ve stated, you aren’t doing a whole lot of IFT/ CCT infusions then it’s optional (and cost effective) and makes more sense to run an infusion with the entire (full) set.

I know for us, we’re utilizing them anytime we start our own drips. If the infusion is pre-existing then it’s often at the discretion of the providers whether they want to use the hospital’s tubing (that much more to entangle) and attach one of our half sets, or use a full set from our bag.

99% of the time I am just going to be using my own tubing. It’s much less of a headache tracing a line on a full set vs a hospital full set plus a half set.

 

[DesertMedic66]

If the problem of priming the cassettes could have been solved, those would have been extremely difficult to beat. A multi-channel pump would normally be all I'd ever need... From what I understand, these things are increasingly difficult to repair...

That is the main issue with them. The other issue I have with them is that there is no battery charge indicator. So no one knows the battery is low until the pump says the battery is low at which time you better be plugging it in. The sapphires have the battery indicator up in the top corner which is amazing. Turn all the pumps on in the morning and check to make sure they are all charged and then you are good to go.

 

[Akulahawk]

Okay, so if a patient has an infusion running, you’d just connect a half set to the admin set already there and just have more tubing? It’s just a luer lock at each end and a pump cassette in the middle?

All we ever use is full sets with our sapphire pumps.

I feel like an idiot for not knowing that.

Correct you are, sir. My guess is if, as you’ve stated, you aren’t doing a whole lot of IFT/ CCT infusions then it’s optional (and cost effective) and makes more sense to run an infusion with the entire (full) set.

Basically a "half set" is an extension set with a pump cassette and you add that to the existing tubing from the hospital. The half sets I use take 5 mL to prime. The full set replaces their entire infusion set and you spike your own tubing into whatever drip. Some full sets have a drip chamber, some do not. Hopefully the dripset is vented... for those times you have a glass container and not a bag...

Half sets are good for CCT/IFT but that does come at the "cost" of having longer tubing to deal with. I do carry with me a small roll of paper tape and a Sharpie so that I can label each line. I also try to detangle the lines whenever possible.

 

[Tigger]

We had half sets for our mini meds and those made those pumps even more temperamental so we stopped carrying them. We changed to spectrums and just stuck with full sets.

 

[VentMonkey]

Half sets have never made a whole lot of sense to me personally, but I’m not sure if that’s just my paramedic brain. Pragmatism.

 

[DesertMedic66]

Half sets have never made a whole lot of sense to me personally, but I’m not sure if that’s just my paramedic brain. Pragmatism.

I have only ever used them for TPA since it is a very specific amount of medication that needs to be administered. So if I just attach my own full set then the patient could be missing out on ~15mg that is left in the hospital’s full set which is a significant amount in the setting of TPA.

However my last transfer with TPA going was a while ago as our hospitals have all switched to TNK.

 

[Akulahawk]

our hospitals have all switched to TNK

My hospital too... Easier to deal with as it's a single push dose and there's no need for a continuous drip of the stuff. It also means that a CCT-RN transfer is less likely needed as Paramedics aren't allowed to transport with tPA infusions in my area (if not the state).

Half sets I like because I just pull a little med from the bag, prime the half set with that, continue the infusion and if the bag empties and I'm not to continue the infusion, I can just put a small saline bag on it and infuse a small amount to flush the line and all the med into the patient that they're supposed to get.