Medically supplies for giving IV fluids

[HippidyCat]

So my neighbour is a doctor, and I figured if I could buy some bags of saline and IV giving sets, of the shit really hits the fan and treatment is supportive only for the Coronavirus, they can pop round in their face mask and hook us up. If it’s that or death and hospitals are closed etc.

I know people going to developing countries buy IV sets to take or if going up Everest etc, but I don’t know where to buy them from. Any suggestions?

Also what else?

...have you asked your neighbour if he’d actually be prepared to do that?

She 🙂
I’m sure if it’s at the stage where hospitals are full/out of action and it’s end of the world stuff then all good.

Why dont you just learn how to do it yourself. I imagine the doctor will be pretty busy elsewhere. Could you not just buy bottles of water to drink instead of potentially drowning yourself in saline.

This is not a sensible idea

Is this just a wind up

Not a wind up no.
Like people going abroad buy in sterile kits for medical people to use when traveling, that’s all I’m asking where to buy it from.
You don’t know my circumstances and why for me this is reassuring or hospital might not be possible.
Prepping is just that, hoping things don’t happen but preparing for the worst and then forgetting about it.

Saline is just salty water. It doesn't have any nutrients or calories. It's no better than drinking water, but would lead to a risk of infection (and presumably there's no water available for hand washing or you'd drink that)

You don't need saline. You need Plasmalyte but the equation for working out how much you need and over how long are quick in-depth depending on weight and height and PMH. I don't think a couple of bags of saline are going to save you if things are as bad as you are prepping for.... You would need approx 4 bags of fluid per day for an indefinite amount of time...

Those things are prescription only. You'd need to buy them from some dodgy online place, based god knows where (probably China!) and god knows what would be in them.

I’ve known people who travel buy IV sets to take aboard, but didn’t want to ask them out right. Prepping is my secret hobby! Maybe I’ll just ask them where they got there orders from.
If I wanted needles and syringes to shoot us, that’s no problem you can get them on amazon it seems!

Oh don't go buying needles off of amazon.
You can get them from the pharmacy.

Are you sure your friends travel with the full IV bag etc? Most travel kits tend to be centred around clean needles etc with the idea of if you’re somewhere you’re concerned about sterility/cross contamination then you can give them your needles and ask them to use it.

As PP said, there are so many different forms of “IV bag” so it would be difficult to choose and order some. I think if you’re concerned about dehydration and needing to self treat; you could perhaps make sure you have plenty of paracetamol and rehydration sachets? Head the worst of the symptoms off before they get to the IV stage maybe?

If you just need saline it would be to support your blood pressure, in which case you would be seriously unwell and need to be in a hospital. Your neighbour, however lovely, will not be managing this at home. And you will not be able to stock enough to keep you going for any length of time. If you are dehydrated and unable to keep oral fluids down, it isn’t saline you need. This whole idea is totally unrealistic.

If it were that bad, then any alive non sick doctors would either be working round the clock in the nearest hospital, or barricaded in their own home. In neither circumstance would they be popping round to you in the woefully inadequate Personal Protective Equipment of a mask.

This has to be a joke. No doctor would let you buy fluids or giving sets. They take slot of monitoring and 0.9% saline probably wouldn't be the best fluid.

I’m sure if it’s at the stage where hospitals are full/out of action and it’s end of the world stuff then all good.

I don’t think so. Even if it’s the ‘end of the world’ I wouldn’t be risking my registration and livelihood to give a neighbour some salty water. Either you need to manage this independently, or don’t bother

I think some posters don’t need to be so rude - this is the prepping topic after all; exactly the sort of place to be having this conversation.

OP I think others are right and if you are wanting to go down this route then you should plan to do it all yourself - there is unlikely to be a scenario where things get so bad you need to treat yourself at home; and your doctor neighbour is available and willing to pop over to help you.

If you are set on wanting this then I’d look up some sort of “expedition first aid” course as that would cover more advanced medical techniques and include how to use IV fluids and when it is appropriate to do so. Contacts made through the course would likely point you towards appropriate suppliers of the right equipment. It would be pricey though; but I really think there’s no point in having the equipment if you aren’t trained to use it.

Yep it would certainly be pretty pricey as you would also need a mobile blood laboratory unit to make sure you're getting the right amount of the right fluids.

I'm a doctor and I wouldn't do that. Also I've never actually set up an IV drip...I work with fantastic nurses who do it all for me so I wouldn't feel confident doing it. Furthermore there are many different types of IV fluids and I don't usually prescribe that type as it's lacking other nutrients compared to others.

You would also need to be quite adept at cannulating yourself, knowing how to administer an IV and some of the many many pitfalls associated with it. There is a reason nurses and doctors train extensively in the use and administration of IV drugs. I don’t think this is a good idea. You would probably need to learn a bit and stock a variety of antibiotics for the inevitable systemic infections you might develop from administering your own IVs in a non clean environment with no training.

The GMC wouldn't be very keen on your doctor neighbour popping round to give you something you're probably unlikely to need.

My Dad was very poorly with cancer and about a month before he died he needed fluids as he was too sick to drink, he hated being in hospital but we couldn't find anyone willing to give him fluids at home, not even the hospice at home team because it was more complicated and needed more attention than it looks so I don't rate your chances of having someone agree to do this for you.

There is so so much wrong with this scenario.

When you travel, you can buy needles so you have your own supply if you are concerned about being in environment where there are no clean needles.

If you are so sick you need iv fluids then you need:

1. Someone to cannulate you. Often frequently as they don't last.
2. Someone to take bloods, frequently, and analyse them, as what fluids you need varies according to what blood results you have. You can't just stick a bag up and be done.
3. Someone to do regular observations and know what to do about them.
4. A variety of different types of fluids as what you need will depend on your observations and blood results.
5. And lastly as you are proposing this for an end of the world, coronavirus scenario - full Hazmat protection for those people treating you outside the safe environment of the hospital, where they are paid, have insurance, back up, supplies etc etc.
6. All the other stuff I've forgotten.

It's not going to work.

Fair enough, it was a question I asked. I’m still going to buy an expedition kit, so if it is a case at any point of supplies running out I have my own wherever I am.

Off to hide in the preppers topic.

supplies won't run out and you won't get iv fluids in a bog standard expedition kit.