Helpful tips 

Are expired IV fluids safe?

Joe Ford

Are expired IV fluids safe?

I would wager they could be safe to apply for accepted conditions for a long while after their expiration date, but of course the best advice is to store them properly and not use them after the printed expiration date.

Are IV bags reusable?

Plain bags get reused for SQ fluids, any with additives get tossed. We don’t reuse bags for IV use. I work in ECC so the SQ bags typically only last a couple days. Per AAHA, they should not be reused no matter the route.

What happens when your IV bag runs out?

Without anything flowing from the bag/bottle the infusion just stops. No air enters or blood back flows unless something else interferes with the IV. If the IV is setup on a “pump”, as is the case in most modern hospitals, it is set to turn off before it reaches empty.

How long do IV bags last?

Depending on the size of the IV fluid bag, once the IV fluid bag is removed from its outer wrapper the fluids are considered stable for: 15 days, if the IV bag is 50ml or smaller and 30 days, if the IV Page 2 SOP – Expired Medical Materials IACUC Approved fluid bags are 100ml or larger.

How long does saline stay in your body?

From this we can infer that the 25% of normal saline which remains intravascular takes about 6 hours to excrete in the urine. After that, you are back to where you started from in terms of intravascular volume.

What is the difference between distilled water and saline solution?

Distilled water has no salt in it so it is called hypotonic. Medical saline solution has approximately the same amount of salt in it that our body-fluids have. The technical term for that is that it is isotonic with our blood. Distilled water has no salt in it so it is called hypotonic.

Can I make my own saline solution?

You can buy saline nose drops at a pharmacy, or you can make your own saline solution:

  1. Add 1 cup (240 mL) distilled water to a clean container. If you use tap water, boil it first to sterilize it, and then let it cool until it is lukewarm.
  2. Add 0.5 tsp (2.5 g) salt to the water.
  3. Add 0.5 tsp (2.5 g) baking soda.

Is saline solution the same as salt water?

Saline solution is a mixture of salt and water. Normal saline solution contains 0.9 percent sodium chloride (salt), which is similar to the sodium concentration in blood and tears. Saline solution is usually called normal saline, but it’s sometimes referred to as physiological or isotonic saline.