Re: Need a solution - Pressuring IV bottles...

["Jeff Grindstaff" <jgrindstaff6@home.com>]

Mike,

Would probably be easier to get a few bags of fluid in a plastic container
donated than to find enough IV pumps.

To that end, please let the list know what you figured out, how it worked,
and how the whole trip went.

Good wishes and prayers for safety to you and the entire team.


Jeff

----- Original Message -----
From: "MikeShuken" <mikeshuken@value.net>
To: <flightmed@flightweb.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 11:28 PM
Subject: Re: Need a solution - Pressuring IV bottles...


> Sorry I didn't clarify this in my initial post, but the purpose is to keep
> arterial lines patent.
>
> Also, this will be taking place in a Russian hospital, not on a transport.
>
> To answer the question that Charles asked "How do the Russians do it?" The
> answer is, "They haven't."  We work in a region that is east of Siberia
> (seven time-zones from Moscow).  Open heart surgery has only been done in
> Russia in Moscow and St Petersburg, so we are breaking new ground...  We
> have already sent over a 40-foot container of necessary supplies (vents,
> balloon pumps, EKG defibrillators...) but at a brainstorming session
> realized that we didn't have any pumps and the bottles over there were all
> glass - when trying to build a cardiac operating room 6000 miles from home
> it's hard to think of ALL the stuff you'll need (but we better!).  The
city
> is called Vladivostok, if anyone is curious.  It is located at the
terminus
> of the Trans-Siberian railroad.  We have been working in the region for
four
> years now.  This particular mission involves five MDs, eight RNs and six
> other medical personnel from the United States.  We leave April 29th...
>
> Thanks for all the ideas so far...
>
> Mike
>
> "Paul M. Wright, Jr." wrote:
>
> > Are you needing pressurization for IV purposes or to keep arterial lines
> > patent?
> >
> > paul
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: MikeShuken [mailto:mikeshuken@value.net]
> > Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 8:36 PM
> > To: flightmed@flightweb.com
> > Subject: Need a solution - Pressuring IV bottles...
> >
> > Hello list,
> >
> > I have a question and I can't think of anyone more qualified to come up
> > with a solution than this group...
> >
> > I will soon be traveling to Russia for a humanitarian aid mission.  We
> > will be performing open heart surgeries (not me personally - we're
> > bringing MDs with us for that part...).  One of the questions that has
> > come up is: How do we keep an IV line pressurized if the solution is in
> > a glass bottle and we have no IV pump?  All of the Russian's solutions
> > are in glass bottles, so our pressure bags won't work, and unless
> > someone on this list can donate several IV pumps to our organization in
> > the next month, we're stuck pressurizing glass bottles.
> >
> > Changing the solution from the glass bottle to a bag is not practical
> > for volume and sterility reasons.  We need to pressurize the glass
> > bottles.
> >
> > We are not leaving for a month or so, which gives us time to use some
> > "expired" nitro bottles in experiments.
> >
> > I would love to hear some ideas about how to achieve pressurized flow
> > from a glass bottle.
> >
> > All input is welcomed and appreciated...
> >
> > Mike Shuken
> > Paramedic
> > Medical Relief Foundation
> > Modesto, California
> >
> > PS - If you DO donate some used IV pumps to our organization, I will see
> > to it that several bottles of high quality Russian vodka are shipped
> > promptly and directly to your home address following our return to the
> > United States...  ;-)
>