Heparin Syringe Medical Usages

Heparin is categorized as an injectable anticoagulant. This medication is used to decrease the bloods ability to clot. This helps prevent the harmful formation of clots in the blood vessels. A lot of times, you will hear this medication referred to as a blood thinner. Heparin does not actually thin the blood or dissolve clots that are already formed, but it can help prevent the present clots from getting larger and stop further clots from forming. Heparin can be given by intravenous route or by subcutaneous route, such as heparin syringes.

Depending on the policies and protocols of a facility, Heparin solution may be used to flush the IV catheters. This is done in order to keep the catheter site clear and free flowing. Flushing the site routinely will cut down on having to restart IV's unnecessarily and will help prevent infiltration of IV sites because of occlusions. This provides for patient comfort and decreases the risk of infections.

Posiflush Heparin Syringes are prefilled heparin syringes. They are available in 2 sizes, 3ml fill in a 10ml diameter, 10 unit BD Posiflush heparin lock flush syringe and a 3ml fill in a 10ml diameter, 100 unit BD Posiflush heparin lock flush syringe. These are also available in a 5ml size. The prefilled syringes are latex free and have clear labeling. These are convenient, reliable, and cost effective alternatives to the vial-based systems. The use of the BD Posiflush Heparin Syringes will strengthen your IV catheter care procedures. The syringes come 30/box.

The use of the prefilled syringes are designed to help reduce the risk of medication errors, reduce disposal costs and decrease the risk of catheter damage. The syringe has a greater visibility of the contents and are color and bar coded for easy identification. The syringes are also designed so that the solution cannot enter a non-sterile area of the syringe.

Heparin comes in different strength solutions. Very serious errors have occurred when the wrong strength was used. Always check and double check that the correct strength is being used before the medication is injected. Even though it is unlikely when being used for a catheter flush, this medication can cause bleeding if it has too much effect on your blood. If any signs of bleeding are noted, such as bleeding of the gums, prolonged bleeding from cuts, nosebleeds, unusual pain or swelling, unusual bruising, black stools, dark urine, severe headache, or unusual dizziness, the physician should be contacted immediately.

The use of Posiflush Heparin Syringes will cut down on the amount of medical waste as well. The prefilled syringes will make the life of the nurses easier by providing an easy, convenient and dependable course for the treatment of the IV catheter sites. Due to the decreased time spent restarting IV sites, the nurses will be able to spend more time on other important patient care procedures.

The Reason for Disposable Medical Supplies-Preventing Infections.

According to the CDC and NNIS, the incidence of nosocomial--or hospital acquired infections has surpassed 2 million per year. More than 165 thousand people per month are afflicted by an infection which they obtained after they entered the hospital. About three people per every thousand who enter the hospital get some kind of an infection after they get there. With so much at risk and so much to be gained, hospital infection control teams are working night and day to prevent the incidence of infection inside the health care facility.

As the health care and infection control teams begin to intensify their fight against this kind of infection they are turning more and more to disposable medical products to try to ensure the health and safety of the patients who are in the hospital. Health facility associated infections are a very serious issue for patients. Some can even cost the overall health and the lives of the patients. Physicians and other health care providers are looking for ways to stop the spread of infection and the number one method that comes to mind is the use of disposable medical supplies.

Even for all the infection that we do see in the hospital, the incidences of the nosocomial infection have lowered dramatically over the years. Before disposable medical supplies were available in a widespread way the healthcare providers of yesterday depended on the autoclave to create sterile equipment that was necessary to serve the hospital. The autoclave uses very high heat and high pressure to kill the germs on the equipment. Typically it is very effective, but there were many cases when it was not perfect. Things were missed and problems took place in hospital rooms and in surgeries.

The incidence of infection during the use of the autoclave to keep the hospital or nursing home equipment clean was quite high although the sterilization process was a vast benefit over the original soaking or washing in simple soap and water that preceeded it.

Since the onset of disposable medical supplies the incidence of hospital or healthcare facility infections have dramatically dropped and will continue to do so as long as they are correctly used and implemented in every health care facility. Disposable medical supplies are intended to be used once and then to be thrown away so that no one is exposed to pathogens from another party while using hospital medical supplies. From tourniquets to catheters to iv bags and tubing, these disposable medical supplies prevent infection and save lives. Avoid the risk of cross contamination and infection by using disposable medical supplies from a reputable medical supply company.

Disposable Medical Supplies

In the beginning of the hospital and healthcare world, not a lot was known about cleanliness and why hospital materials should be sterile. The need for sterility hadn't really been established yet and the means of spreading disease wasn't well known. Once it was an established fact that bacteria and viral infections caused disease and infection, new methods for removing or killing the bacteria were experimented with.

Different solutions that ingredients like carbolic acid entered into the mixture. In British hospitals, Joseph Lister began to experiment with different chemicals that would help to kill the bacteria and lower the chance of infection. His research was not well received by medical practitioners. Some physicians and hospitals began to follow the examples that Lister set but most did not believe that bacteria caused the infection and once they did believe, they were not believers of the fact that some types of solutions could kill those bacteria and alleviate the sickness and death that came from infection.

Over time as the idea of infections became more accepted, health care providers and professionals began to use antiseptics and to create conditions by which the instruments in the hospital were kept cleaner. Enter the autoclave. The autoclave was a means by which the instruments in the hospital were cleaned and made sterile.

Today we accept that bacteria can create conditions by which infections can take place.Each time those materials were used they were sterilized in the autoclave, a device that is much like a modern day pressure cooker. It builds up pressure and temperature to kill bacteria, but it was not foolproof. Some kinds of disease processes were not prevented. Prions, which cause Mad Cow Disease, were often not killed. Some bacteria remained because the kind of instrument was not able to be autoclaved due to the fact that some of those instruments could also melt.

The answer was that instruments should be created and delivered in a sterile environment, completely free from any kind of bacteria that might infect an already ill patient. Enter the single use sterile materials which were pre-packaged. These disposable medical supplies were far more healthy and a far better surety against any kind of bacterial infection. They are single use materials which, having been used one time are then discarded.

Today, thankfully there is no need for a second use and no need to try to remove bacteria or fungi from the items. The disposable medical supplies which are largely in use today are one of the best and most positive things to come along in many years. They provide for the better health of the patient and also protect the health care practitioner since many injuries took place in the past as health care providers attempted to clean and sterlize the instruments that they used.

IV Pharmacy Products

While we know the more traditional pharmacy products that can be found, there will occasionally be I.V. products that these facilities will carry. They are usually provided to patients who will have IV treatment in their homes and many of these pieces can be packaged individual or as part of an IV set.

When choosing pharmacy products, you need to determine practicality of each item, in addition to what the standard IV treatment of the patient will call for. After all, many I.V. products will have a limited shelf life and you don’t want to overbuy a product that you won’t be able to use in a reasonable amount of time.

Although an IV set might be the right choice for certain items, you may also want to consider some of the individual options you will have access to. These will ensure that you have enough of a particular item to ensure that proper IV treatment can be administered. Some of the most common will be:

• Dispensing spikes                  
• Double ended medication transfer needles   
• Filtration products                  
• Injection ports             
• IV base rings              
• IV medication labels   
• Sharps containers      

There may be other I.V. products you need for proper administration, so be sure that you take your patient’s needs into consideration as you shop for the best pharmacy products for them. This is because certain medications will need different lines to administer their drugs properly.

An IV set will also be very important and shouldn’t be overlooked when you are purchasing supplies. These products will usually contain everything from adapters to claves. You will need to pay close attention to the collection you are purchasing though. As there are administration sets and extension sets that can be purchased that will contain different I.V. products in them.

Above all, you should be doing all you can to prevent illness and injury when you use an IV. This means you should ensure that you refrain from reusing the same needles and accessories and that you have enough clean and sterile products to handle enough treatments until your next shipment arrives. That way, there is never a concern with running out and you don’t make an already ill patient worse off, because you have reused contaminated medical equipment to continue their treatment.

Every company that specializes in pharmacy products will have their own unique collection of options. It will be important that you take the time to review the offerings of each company and choose a location that can give you the full set of pharmacy products that you will need. By doing that, you are able to simplify your purchasing needs and ensure that you maintain the same level in quality between bags, lines and needles.

Necessary Pharmacy Supplies for Daily Use

Pharmacies can be located in retail environments, medical facilities or even have their main storefront on the internet. But no matter where they operate out of, they will need to have quality pharmacy supplies.

Typically, the pharmacy will be staffed with trained individuals who are able to ensure that local and federal laws and regulations are being met. While the main focus of the pharmacy will be to distribute medications that a physician has written a prescription for, they may be asked to provide patients with additional items for their healthcare needs.

One example is the compounding pharmacy. The pharmacist in these facilities will blend together medications based on the specific orders of a doctor and ensure that they are producing the highest quality medications possible. The compound medication will be delivered typically in a crème or liquid form, based on the best treatment option for the ailment they are being designed for.

This will mean that the pharmacysupplies for this medical facility will include a dispenser for the medications, the crème or liquid that the medication will be compounded into. Weights and scales to ensure the right amount of medications is being distributed will also be important. In a more traditional setting, the needs of the pharmaceutical staff will likely be different. In these cases, things like pill counters, drug security products, medication labeling and even serum vials will all be necessary to have in place. With these items, they can ensure that they are distributing medications in the safest manner possible.

Of course, some medications are extremely volatile to temperatures. It is because of this that there may be a need to have a storage unit that will provide temperature control. Similar to a refrigerator, these units are designed to ensure that a constant set temperature is maintained for certain medications, while reducing the risk of contamination.

It will be important that with all the different pharmacy supplies that the staff be trained to ensure that they are using them accordingly. While things like pill counters can make the process of sorting pills easier, they still need to be checked and verified to ensure that the dose being issued to patients is correct. After all, their lives may depend on the right amount of dosing being used.

Finally, all pharmacies should have security and cameras in place to ensure that their products remain safe. This brings up the last set of pharmacy supplies that should be used. Since there are medications that can be abused or tampered with, pharmacists should ensure that locks and other security devices are in place to reduce the risks to patients, while protecting the costly investments that some of the prescription pills have associated with them.