The American College of Radiology® (ACR®) strongly supports our members, colleagues, patients, and all those impacted by Hurricane Helene and the ongoing catastrophic weather events in the southeastern United States.
ACR is aware of practices that may be impacted by a shortage of IV products including saline bags because of the shutdown of a Baxter International plant in Marion, NC, that manufacturers more than half of such products available in the U.S. The plant went offline after suffering critical damage from Hurricane Helene. The plant has now resumed at least some capacity, but is not expected to reach previous production levels for some time.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a statement Oct. 9, that updates the status of the Baxter plant, outlines the situation from the federal government's perspective, and urges healthcare providers to help conserve these critical resources.
While radiology may not be as highly impacted as other specialties, we are committed to doing our part to ensure optimal patient care. Each site should follow hospital, institutional or practice plans regarding IV shortage mitigation strategies, and evaluate and ensure that image quality remains acceptable and works within their system.
The following are approaches that ACR members are taking to make the most efficient use of these IV solutions during this time. Local radiology practices are encouraged to adopt these or similar practices to conserve resources.
General Approach
• Once a bag is spiked, try to use the whole thing. Use the smallest bag you think you might need.
• Continue to be cautious when spiking the saline to avoid puncturing the side of the tubing as that would waste the entire bag.
Specific to Radiology
• Reduce test flush/patency flush to 20ml.
• Reduce or eliminate saline chasers used in computed tomography (CT). A few possible examples are provided below:
• For all venous phase studies, consider using no more than 10 ml saline chaser.
• For CTAs and liver/pancreas protocols, consider using no more than 30 mL chaser.
• Reduce (but not eliminate) chasers for MR to 10ml (if possible).
Other organizations — including the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) — issued similar guidance that may be helpful.
ACR will continue monitoring the situation and will share additional guidance as it becomes available.