Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Running on Empty - August 2019 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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3 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A U G U S T 2 0 1 9 I n the early morning hours of Sept. 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria slammed into the southeast coast of Puerto Rico and tracked across the island with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph, leaving a trail of catastrophic destruction in its wake. The Category 4 cyclone knocked out the island's power grid that ran the manufacturing plants of Baxter International, a major supplier of IV saline bags used by healthcare professionals across the United States to administer intravenous drugs. Baxter's plants were offline for months, causing a severe shortage of 50 ml and 100 ml IV bags. Production volume of the bags is only now reaching pre-Maria levels. The historic hurricane was an obvious event that slowed the flow of IV fluid to a trickle, but other causes of drug shortages are more subtle — and more persist- Empty Running on Daniel Cook | Executive Editor Don't let the drug shortage leave you hung out to dry. Take these 5 steps to ensure limited supplies of essential medications never impact patient care. • GOOD TO THE LAST DRIP A historic storm isn't the only reason critical fluids and drugs are seemingly in constant short supply.

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