The continued shortage of intravenous, or IV, saline fluids has forced many hospitals across the nation and in Utah to put off some nonurgent and elective surgeries.

The shortage is caused by Hurricane Helene’s damage to Baxter Medical’s North Cove plant, which is close to Ashville, North Carolina. The plant, which makes 60% of the nation’s IV fluid supplies, closed due to flooding.

“Currently, Utah’s hospitals are in a ‘yellow status’ with about two weeks of supplies on hand, thanks primarily to their conservation efforts,” said Jordan Sorenson, director of behavioral health police and emergency preparedness at the Utah Hospital Association. “They have maintained that status for the past month and all essential care delivery has continued. So things are OK as long as there aren’t any additional shocks to the supply chain.”

Sorenson said hospitals in Utah were receiving anywhere from 30% to 50% of their standard allocation for several weeks, and while Baxter has press releases announcing increased allocations, they have been slow to materialize.

“UHA put together an IV shortage workgroup with hospital representatives from supply chain logistics, clinicians, pharmacy directors and C suite leadership to develop conservation strategies, provide situational updates and potentially prepare to share resources across hospital systems,” he said.

In addition to rehydrating patients, Sorenson said most operations utilize IV fluids to maintain an electrolyte balance while the patient is under anesthesia, dialysis procedures, life support, chemotherapy and radiation delivery and cardiac and abdominal surgeries, just to name a few.

“Our state’s hospitals should be commended for the swift implementation of conservation measures which decreased the standard burn rate by approximately 50%,” Sorenson said. “There were a few elective surgeries that were delayed due to the supply shortages. These primarily consist of bladder and prostate procedures which can require up to 15 liters of IV fluid to irrigate the bladder during the procedure to prevent secondary infection.”

Baxter has imported supplies from Mexico, Taiwan and China to help mitigate the shortages while they are trying to bring the plant back online, Sorenson said.

“Baxter claims that allocations will return to 100% by the start of the new year, so fingers crossed,” he said.