Hospitals around the country are experiencing severe shortages of IV fluids as a result of Hurricane Helene’s effects, which is requiring changes to patient care.
In order to preserve scarce resources and guarantee critical care for individuals in need, federal authorities and healthcare providers are working together.
When Hurricane Helene stormed through western North Carolina, it left a swath of debris and flooded homes-but also disrupted the lifeline of hospitals across America.
According to the most current results from Truveta Research, since the hurricane knocked out Baxters North Cove facility, one of the nation’s principal providers supplying 60 percent of its IV fluids, patients going to emergency rooms now are half as likely to get this life-critical treatment.
The absence of IV fluids significantly impacted the way emergency departments managed dehydration, nausea, and vomiting.
In the week leading up to the hurricane’s landfall, 6.6% of dehydrated patients received saline IV fluids; a week after Hurricane Helene made landfall, only 2.5% did. Similar declines were seen in patients with nausea; administration rates through IVs plummeted from 5.5% to 2%.
Federal agencies invoked the Defense Production Act to assist Baxter in getting supplies up and running. They’re also increasing overseas imports for manufacturers. The FDA extends expiration dates on existing stocks, and of course, hospitals must resort to the best methods of conservation as possible – oral hydration substitutes where practical.
“We’re doing all we can to make sure that those in need the most still get IV fluids,” says Dr. Chris DeRienzo of the American Hospital Association. But with respiratory virus season fast approaching, the pressure on this fragile supply chain will only intensify.
