Hurricane Helene damaged Baxter, a major manufacturing plant, resulting in a critical national shortage of large-volume IV fluids and irrigation products.
Our UW Medicine teams, including teams at Harborview Medical Center, UW Medical Center, Valley Medical Center, Shared Services and others, mobilized quickly to implement IV fluid conservation guidelines that have helped ensure the care and safety of all our patients.
“Thank you to all the clinical and operational teams for working hard to conserve fluids to ensure they are available for the most critically ill patients,” says Cynthia Dold, chief operating officer, UW Medicine Hospitals & Clinics.
Conservation guidelines and rehydration protocols by clinical area can be found on the IV Fluid Conservation web page [AMC login required]. We invite you to share your ideas for conserving IV fluids at this intake form [AMC login required].
These guidelines are focused on how we can conserve IV fluids to avoid waste where possible. The conservation strategies do not replace best practices and good clinical judgement in maintaining the highest quality of care for UW Medicine patients.
Nationally, Baxter has activated additional facilities to increase IV fluid production and quantities. Their goal is to return to 90-100% capacity by the end of 2024. Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accelerated approvals to import IV fluids from other countries, and these imports have now begun. However, we anticipate impacts to our supply through the remainder of the calendar year.
