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

["Cece/Fred Peterson" <Cece1201@Nauticom.net>]

Hi Mike,

What a venture you're undertaking!
If you're able to transport vents/IABPs/defibrillators etc for your overseas
mission, is there a reason you can't just supply the bags of NSS for your
arterial lines?  You could still use the glass bottles for maintenance fluid
and medicated drips.  Is there a Russian equivalent of the FDA standing in
your way?

If anyone can help you come up with a solution to your problem, it'll be one
of the creative minds from this list!

Good luck on your mission,
Cece Peterson
LifeFlight, Pittsburgh, PA

----- 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...  ;-)
>
>