med question

[medsquestion]

hi. I have a few questions. what happens if your iv pump hose runs dry will that bring air in your veins can this be bad or will it not effect anything and for how long. can a IV be hooked up with out the pump being on. I'm new in the Medications and doing some studies. any information on the Iv pump will be appreciated. if the bag runs dry how long will you have to replace it. is there any side effects to leavening the tube dry for a few days. thank you.

[CCU BSN RN]

When the bag is empty, there is some air in the line but not enough to get into veins. It is a closed system, the bags don't have enough air in them to get into veins. If you don't clamp the tubing and you disconnect the bag to hang a new bag, air can get into the system. If you change the bag and don't re-prime the tubing after it has run dry, you can give the patient an air embolism. If you leave a bag dry for a few days (that sounds pretty negligent, btw...) your IV will not be patent, but no harm.

[medsquestion]

what happens if the pump is not on but hooked up to the person can you still get air in tubing that's connected to the person

[medsquestion]

if the persons bag runs out and they though they had anther one but didn't can you hook it back up to the empty bag while to wait for the new one with out any air or problems