Category Archives: Intravenous and Fluid Therapy

Category: Intravenous and Fluid Therapy   |   Date:

My question is in regards to when an IV certified medic is working with a non-certified medic. If the certified medic establishes IV access and has a lock in place, but doesn’t give any fluids or medications can the non-certified medic still continue to attend the call? Or does the certified one become the attending. Specific example would be a Code Stroke where we established IV access prior to leaving scene, but it was originally the non-certified medics call.

Category: Intravenous and Fluid Therapy   |   Date:

Is it safe to use blanket warmers in the vehicles for warming IV fluids? I know that the infusion of ambient temperature (21°C) intravenous fluid may be a significant risk factor for severe hypothermia and the manufacturer of our IV fluids recommends a 40 °C for a max of 14 days. Do you know if this is being done anywhere effectively and safely and if so what are they using?

Category: Intravenous and Fluid Therapy   |   Date:

I have had a few calls to nursing homes where the patient’s IV fell out and the patient is being sent to the hospital for an IV restart. If the patient does not have any complaints otherwise, would an IV certified crew be able to start the IV and patch to not have the patient transported? If so, would this be documented as a refusal? I have always transported these patients but it would be helpful to know if there are other options to avoid an unnecessary trip to the hospital. Thank you!

Category: Intravenous and Fluid Therapy, Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)   |   Date:

Question: In a setting where you arrive on scene and you are presented with a patient who is unconscious and is hypotensive, the patient has a valid DNR. Can you still administer fluids to this patient or does that fall under the same category as inserting an OPA/NPA and BVM to a patient with a DNR?

Category: Intravenous and Fluid Therapy   |   Date:

Question: The IV Therapy Medical Directive lists hypotension as a required indication for a fluid bolus. In pediatric medicine, blood pressure is rarely used alone as an indication of perfusion and tends more to rely on looking at the overall presentation including: level of awareness/activity, heart rate, capillary refill etc.

If presented with a child who is: irritable, tachycardic (or bradycardic for that matter), with delayed cap refill, and decreased urine output, but is not hypotensive (<5th percentile), is it permissible to administer a fluid bolus?

Category: Cardiogenic Shock, CPAP, Intravenous and Fluid Therapy   |   Date:

Question: In a patient presenting with respiratory distress, crackles and a relevant cardiac history, I would assume that left ventricular failure/infarct would be a fair working assessment. If 12-lead indicated LV involvement occurring with hypotension that would place the Cardiogenic Shock and CPAP Directives out of parameters.

Crackles = no bolus, hypotension = no CPAP. Other than vitals/cardiac monitoring, oxygenation/ventilatory support as needed, it seems like a situation such as this one may limit pre-hospital management, as far as a PCP scope goes. Any comments or suggestions?

Category: Intravenous and Fluid Therapy   |   Date:

Question: When administering a fluid bolus, are we to give the full bolus amount (i.e. 1000ml for a 50kg patient) reassessing for fluid overload or return to TKVO when the BP reaches 100mmHg or greater? Given so much fluid shifts, administering the full bolus when no fluid overload is present (either 10 or 20ml/kg), particularly with the septic or preload dependent patient would be beneficial.

Category: Intravenous and Fluid Therapy   |   Date:

Question: My question is regarding fluid bolus for DKA. There seems to be varying belief on whether or not a DKA patient must be hypotensive to administer a bolus. There is no specific language that I can find addressing bolus protocol for DKA other than the mandatory BHP patch point if the suspected DKA pt is 2-12yrs old, but this is listed under the NaCl fluid bolus protocol where hypotension is a condition for treatment. Just looking for a little clarification on the entire DKA bolus protocol.

Category: Miscellaneous, Intravenous and Fluid Therapy   |   Date:

Question: There was a question posted on Sep 23, 2014 in regards to a fluid bolus on a transfer between facilities. As I agree that there should have been an RN escort for this patient, the paramedic was certified in IV fluid therapy including boluses. Your answer has me perplexed however. If a physician gave the paramedic a fluid bolus order how would that differ from getting a similar order from a BHP through phone patch. It is in the scope of practice for the paramedic to administer NaCl 0.9% as a bolus, the volume was prescribed by the physician(s) in charge of this patient's care. Would any paramedic be wrong in following the order given by the physician?

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