New ECRI Institute resource provides solutions for IV-minibag shortage

Editor's Note

The ECRI Institute on January 19 announced the release of a special Health Devices guidance article featuring recommendations and alternative solutions for dealing with the IV-fluid minibag (50-250 mL) shortage that resulted form Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

The guidance provides a functional equivalence chart for IV solution bags to help organizations find suitable alternatives for products. It also outlines alternative technological approaches such as, using syringe pumps instead of large-volume pumps or using large-volume pumps to deliver from a syringe.

Recommendations from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists also are included.

​IV-fluid minibags, mainly manufactured in Puerto Rico, are widely used 50-250 mL solution bags that infuse antibiotics and other medications intravenously.

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