Nationwide IV fluid bag shortage hits North Texas hospitals
DALLAS - Hospitals across Texas are dealing with an IV bag shortage after one of the main production facilities in the U.S. was damaged by Hurricane Helene.
It’s been one month since Hurricane Helene devastated parts of the southeast, including the Baxter IV bag facility in North Carolina.
"That's where 60% of the bags that Baxter manufactures come from. So it created an immediate shortage," said Stephen Love, president of the DFW Hospital Council.
Love says North Texas hospitals have been impacted, but they are not in panic mode yet.
"We're doing everything we can to conserve the IV bags, and we're doing things that are appropriate," he said. "It doesn't compromise patient care, but it saves those IV bags for the surgeries that are needed."
Love says no hospitals have postponed elective surgeries.
However, that’s not the case in other parts of Texas, according to Texas Medical Association President Ray Callas. He works as an anesthesiologist in Beaumont.
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"People don't realize the IV shortage is huge," he said. "Because the fluids that we get, not only do we need them for surgeries, not only do we need them for dialysis, not only do we need it to mix up medicines, but people don't realize how much fluids are important to developing and delivering health care throughout the state and the United States."
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is working to help hospitals. The HHS secretary posted a video of the first shipment of IV fluid that was airlifted into the U.S. from international facilities.
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Baxter said all of its employees in North Carolina have been accounted for following the hurricane, and 720 truckloads of finished products have been transported. The plant could be back to full operation before December.
"As of today, we're still keeping very strong restrictions on the way we utilize IV fluids," Callas said.