Tag: fluid
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Long before Helene, IV fluid shortages plagued hospitals
Years before Hurricane Helene shut down a critical intravenous fluid facility in North Carolina, sparking concerns in hospitals across the country, many common IV fluids were already in short supply in the U.S. Saline solution, a mixture of sodium chloride and water, has been in shortage since 2018, according to the Food and Drug Administration’s…
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IV fluid supply crunch forcing hospitals to postpone elective surgeries
A limited supply of IV fluid, stemming from damage caused by Hurricane Helene, is forcing some hospitals across the U.S. to postpone elective surgeries and other nonemergency procedures to safeguard their stock. Catastrophic flooding from Helene struck a facility owned by the nation’s largest IV fluid manufacturer, Baxter International, in North Carolina, leading to its…
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Hospitals take steps to conserve IV fluid supply after Helene strikes critical factory
Hard to fill the gap In a statement published online Thursday, Baxter said it doesn’t yet have a timeline for when operations will be back up and running. A part of the problem, the company said, is that bridges to its site were damaged in the storm, limiting transport in and out. The Department of…