Hurricane Helene Causes IV Fluid Shortage in US Is Canada Next? – Nationally
Hospitals across the United States are struggling to manage a shortage of IV fluids after Hurricane Helene forced the shutdown of the nation’s most important manufacturing facility. The facility also supplies IV fluids to Canadian hospitals.
Baxter International Inc., a medical technology company that supplies 60 percent of the US stock of intravenous (IV) drip and peritoneal dialysis solutions to hospitals, was forced to close at the end of September after Hurricane Helene devastated the southeast coast. of the US.
The medical company is also providing IV fluids in Canada but so far no shortages have been reported. There is one Baxter manufacturing facility in Ontario.
A spokesperson from Nova Scotia Health told Global News on Wednesday that, although their hospitals are receiving IV fluids from Baxter, they have not yet experienced a shortage.
“Baxter has not notified us of any issues with their products, and there has been no impact on the IV supply at Nova Scotia health facilities,” a spokesperson said via email.
Global News asked Baxter International whether goods from its facility in Canada could be transferred to the U.S. A spokesperson provided a link to the company’s statement and did not directly address that question.
Global News also reached out to Health Canada on this matter but has not yet received a response.
IV fluids are fluids that are given directly into a vein through a drip or injection. They help maintain or restore the patient’s fluid balance, deliver medications and provide vital nutrients.
The shortage occurred after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on September 26 and moved across the southeastern US whipping up strong winds and deadly flooding that created a path of destruction that stretched more than 500 miles from Florida to the southern Appalachians.
The storm washed away roads and destroyed homes, leaving hundreds unaccounted for and many confirmed dead. On September 29, Baxter announced that its North Cove facility in North Carolina was flooded, forcing it to halt production.
“The impact of Hurricane Helene has resulted in a temporary disruption of services at the Baxter Center in Marion, North Carolina,” the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a press release on Wednesday.
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“Baxter’s facility supplies the majority of IV solutions, irrigation fluids, and peritoneal solutions to the US medical system. There are currently shortages of normal saline IV fluids, normal saline fluids, sterile water fluids, and 5 percent dextrose IV fluids prior to Hurricane Helene. Storm-related service disruptions at the Baxter facility will lead to additional IV fluid issues.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Hurricane Milton, which is expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday, could also cause series IV damage.
On Wednesday, Baxter provided an update on his facility, outlining measures to manage inventory and reduce disruptions in patient care. This also includes reducing inventory accumulation, as children’s hospital shares increase to 100 percent, the company added.
Baxter said it is also increasing the U.S. share of IV fluids for direct customers from 40% to 40% and from 60% to 10%.
“Our aim remains to return our customers to 100% of their allocated levels as quickly as possible. This can be achieved by combining product imports from other Baxter facilities and restarting operations and ramping up production at our North Cove facility,” the company said.
Using Gatorade instead of IV fluid
Dr. Paul Biddinger, an emergency physician at Mass General Brigham in Boston, said during a press conference last week that the hospital receives only about 40 percent of its regular IV fluids from Baxter.
Mass General Brigham, which includes 12 hospitals, offers some patients water or Gatorade instead of starting an IV, Biddinger said. He added that anyone who needs an IV can still get one, and the program’s clinical services are operating normally.
“It is too early to say what will happen if this continues for many weeks or months, but we have plans and programs in place to be able to deal with that,” he said.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) on Monday issued a statement saying that it is very concerned about the closure of this facility due to damage from the storm. The organization also expressed concern after Baxter and other IV providers applied strict orders to their customers and stopped accepting new customers.
“As a result, our members are already reporting severe shortages of these life-saving and life-supporting products,” it said. “Patients across America are already feeling the impact, which will deepen in the days and weeks ahead unless more is done to mitigate the situation and minimize the impact on patient care.”
In response to this shortage, the AMA urged the US government to take immediate action to increase the supply of IV solutions to hospitals and called for a national emergency to be declared under the National Emergency Act.
Virginia-based medical center, UVA Health University Medical Center, said it is postponing some major surgeries in the coming days due to a shortage of IV fluids. It added that full recovery “may take several weeks.”
Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center told Reuters in a statement that because of the disruption, “in order to preserve IV fluids, we have made emergency plans and are reviewing our IV needs” as they look for other ways to get IVs. liquid.
– in files from the Associated Press and Reuters
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