One unintended consequence of Hurricane Helene is being felt in hospitals around the country: a reduction in the amount of IV fluids available. NBC News reports four companies manufacture the bulk of IV fluids in the US, and Baxter International is chief among them, handling about 60% of the market. But Baxter's facility in North Cove, North Carolina, is temporarily closed, with no estimated reopening date yet established. The company says bridges leading to its facility were damaged, making it difficult to get in and out. Hospitals are responding by conserving their supplies.
NBC News flags Boston's Mass General Brigham in particular. It consumes more than 100,000 liters of IV fluid from Baxter each month and has been giving certain patients oral hydration in the form of Gatorade or water to stretch out its stocks; it has also stopped getting rid of partially drained bags when patients are moved within the hospital. It notes all patients who need IV fluids are receiving them. "These are not high-dollar, lucrative products, but they are the warhorse products in a hospital," says Soumi Saha, a senior vice president of Premier, which buys bulk quantities of supplies for thousands of US hospitals. "You go in for anything, and the first thing that they're doing is hanging an IV bag."
Mass General Brigham says it received a letter from Baxter stating shipment volumes would be 60% lower than normal due to the closure, reports the Wall Street Journal. The hospital's chief preparedness and continuity officer, Dr. Paul Biddinger, describes this as one of the more significant supply-chain shortages the hospital has experienced in the last decade. As for how long he thinks its supplies will last, "There are just too many unknowns right now." One expert notes that if the facility's manufacturing lines no longer meet FDA sterility and stability standards, recertification generally takes 90 days, though the FDA said it may be able to expedite a review in Baxter's case. (More Hurricane Helene stories.)
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