Best ER Tricks what it meant is like putting two tourniquet to get the IV

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I saw a ER Doc twisting a bag of saline to create like a pressure bag system because we did not have one at the moment. it seem to me like a very good idea we were in the middle of a code. So i though to share it here and i would like to hear your tips and tricks too. thank you guys. Just post no matter how silly it seems!

Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.
Regarding BP cuff for IVs: If you use a Phillips monitor, check the BP settings- there is likely a tourniquette setting. Does it automaticlly.

A tip if you need vented tubing for anything in a bottle- No vented tubing, use regular tubing, and stick an 18 g needle through the rubber stopper.

I don't think I would do the latter for fear of infection or pieces of rubber ending up free floating. I would go with the NTG paste or SL instead, then get a job at a hospital that can stock the appropriate tubing!

HPRN

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

you can use kelly clamps and piece of gauze on the nibp disposable tubing and get the same effect.

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Iodoform packing gauze neutralizes the lingering odor of GI bleeds. Cut a piece 10-12 inches long and place in the room. In 10 minutes or less the odor is gone.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Emergency, CEN.
make sure you bring in the size 24 french catheter as an example of what garden hose...I mean catheter you are going to use to obtain that urine sample!

Ok, I completely lost it when I read that. Thanks a lot! :roflmao:

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Specializes in ED, OR, Oncology.

This is a good trick- the monitors on the anesthesia machines at the facility where I work have a setting for this- just hit the veni-puncture button, it inflates the cuff and holds it. Can also adjust the pressure.

Not a nurse yet, but I'm an ER Tech and I have seen a doc use the bp cuff in replace of a tourniquet when the pt was a hard stick. Completely dehydrated, dialysis, hypotensive.

I should add he kinked the tube by holding it pinched. I was afraid the whole arm was going to pop off from the pressure :redbeathe but the nurse had access in a few seconds!

I was in awe! But then, that's how I spend most of my shifts these days!!! :bowingpur :nurse:

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Specializes in ED; Med Surg.
1) Eye wash station? Thats for rich folks. Take a 500 bag of NS and a piggyback tubing, use that rolling clamp to control the flow.

Use a nasal cannula on the bridge of the nose, it works better!

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
Use a nasal cannula on the bridge of the nose, it works better!

What have you found that best attaches the cannula tubing to the IV tubing? I feel like I am always rigging up a leaky connection when I do this.

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Specializes in ED; Med Surg.

I use tegaderm--works great and put the rest of the tubing around the top of the head like a crown.

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Specializes in ED; Med Surg.

If it leaks, I cut the end off the tubing

Sorry, I couldn't edit the above on my phone!

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
If it leaks, I cut the end off the tubing

Sorry, I couldn't edit the above on my phone!

Thanks! I haven't tried Tegaderm for that yet.

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If your having trouble getting a large bore IV in a critical pt with low b/p I have found one trick that has helped at times. If possible start a small IV in the hand or wrist and hang NS on it. Place a turniqutte on the pt and let the NS run wide open may even need to apply slight pressure. If all works correctly the veins in the upper forearm and AC area should start to rise up as they fill with NS and make then easier to get into. I've done this a couple times on pt's by starting a 24g in the hand because we could not get anything else. After applying the NS the veins popped up and I've gotten 14's and 16's in the AC. just be aware that you may not get a blood return and may actually have NS running out of the IV you just stuck. It was really bizarre the first time I saw it. Anyway just my two cents.

Whoa. I can't wait to try this! Especially in a pt that requires a 20+ g IV in an AC for a CT angiogram or something. It always seems my PE ruleout pts have nada in the AC.

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Specializes in Education.
Whoa. I can't wait to try this! Especially in a pt that requires a 20+ g IV in an AC for a CT angiogram or something. It always seems my PE ruleout pts have nada in the AC.

You get to use 20s for CT angios??? Man, we're going with the wrong IV contrast company. We have to go for an 18 or larger. 20s are okay for simply CTs with contrast.

Don't chase the friends/family out of the room when treating abscesses from dirty needles and drugs. Sometimes just having somebody else watch as you squeeze what looks like gallons of pus and blood out from an arm does more than saying over and over again "are you trying to lose your arms? Because that's what will happen if you don't die first." And on that note, just open up a handful of saline flushes to help wash it out.

Wear sneakers. You never know when you're going to end up sprinting down the hall and that's usually when you can't afford to trip over your own feet.

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