New guidance provides hospitals with strategies to mitigate the impact of IV fluid shortages caused by recent hurricane-related disruptions in key manufacturing facilities.
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- Hurricane Damage Disrupts IV Fluid Supply: Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused significant damage to two major manufacturing plants, impacting 80% of the US supply of intravenous (IV) fluids.
- ATS Offers Conservation Strategies: The American Thoracic Society (ATS) has issued guidance to help hospitals conserve IV fluids and manage shortages.
- Expert-Led Webinar for Healthcare Professionals: ATS experts, including W. Graham Carlos, MD, and Michelle Ng Gong, MD, will lead a webinar on Oct 14 to discuss IV fluid conservation strategies amid the shortages.
Disruptions in manufacturing operations after Hurricanes Helene and Milton have significantly affected the supply of intravenous (IV) fluids, leaving some health systems in need.
On Sept 26, Hurricane Helene struck Baxter’s Marion, NC plant, disrupting the supply chain for intravenous (IV) and peritoneal dialysis solutions. This facility was responsible for producing 60% of the IV solutions used daily in the United States. Two weeks later, Hurricane Milton hit near Siesta Key, Florida, leading to the closure of B. Braun Medical, which supplies around 20% of the country’s IV fluids, according to the American Thoracic Society (ATS).
While some medical centers have stockpiles in place, others may need to ration their IV fluid supply and delay surgeries. The ATS is providing tips to help hospitals mitigate supply chain impacts.
“This document gives guidance on how health care systems facing shortages of these fluids may conserve fluids and address the shortages,” says W. Graham Carlos, MD, lead author, in a release. “IV fluids are lifesaving for many people who present in shock due to trauma, infection, or bleeding. We need to work together as a nation to ensure that they have the IV fluids if/when they are needed.”
Carlos also led the development of similar recommendations addressing IV shortages following Hurricane Maria in 2017.
“This is mission critical for the pulmonary and critical care communities, and the ATS is committed to helping our health care colleagues navigate this tremendously challenging course,” says ATS board secretary Michelle Ng Gong, MD, MS. Gong is also the chief of the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York.
Gong and Carlos will join other experts in leading an Oct. 14 webinar on conservation strategies for health care professionals facing shortages.
Visit the ATS website to view the webinar or for patient resources on disaster preparedness in patients with lung disease.
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