Newcastle vet inspires Lifeblood to donate IV fluid to animal clinics (video in link)

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Newcastle vet inspires Lifeblood to donate IV fluid to animal clinics

By Keely Johnson

• ABC Newcastle

• Topic:Veterinary Medicine

Monday 27 January

 

Lifeblood now donates leftover IV fluid to animal clinics across Australia. (ABC Newcastle: Keely Johnson)

In short:

There is a global shortage of saline intravenous (IV) fluids used to treat common medical conditions in humans and animals.

A Newcastle vet noticed Lifeblood discarding small amounts of saline after each blood and plasma donation. 

What's next?

Lifeblood now supplies saline to more than 100 animal clinics and is encouraging more to join the program. 

Newcastle veterinarian Felicity Cole has been donating blood for more than a decade.

A regular at Newcastle Lifeblood, she has come to know the process well.

"When you give plasma, they spin it in front of you in this amazing machine, and then the pump changes direction, and with saline, they give you your red cells back," Dr Cole said.

"I knew the product [saline] was being used and a large amount of it was possibly spare or being discarded." 

Dr Felicity Cole has been donating blood since she was at university. (ABC Newcastle: Keely Johnson)

After each blood or plasma donation, there is often intravenous (IV) fluid, or saline, left over in the bag.

Until recently it would have been discarded.

But Dr Cole saw new potential for the product, as the vet clinic she was working at was struggling with a global IV fluid shortage.

What is saline used for?

IV fluids are used to treat common medical conditions or mixed with other medications.

They are particularly vital when treating sepsis and dehydration, and are used during resuscitation, post-anaesthesia care, and intensive care.

Animals are also administered IV fluids, which help them maintain blood volume while under general anaesthesia and after traumas such as car accidents.

Minerva "Minnie" the labrador being treated at Merewether Vet. (ABC Newcastle: Keely Johnson)

Saving the saline

In July last year, Dr Cole wrote to the team at Australia Red Cross Lifeblood, asking if they would consider saving the leftover IV fluids and donate them to her clinic in Merewether.

"I knew they were heat sealing these sterile products straight away, and that there was an opportunity for them to still be usable in a time of crisis," she said.

Dr Felicity Cole says saline IV is used almost every day at her clinic. (ABC Newcastle: Keely Johnson)

The organisation was quick to respond and keen to help.

"It was such a great idea," Australian Red Cross Lifeblood spokesperson Jemma Falkenmire said.

"But there was certainly some work to do, from our end, to get approval to donate that saline."

Jemma Falkenmire says Dr Cole's proposal was "such a great idea". (ABC Newcastle: Keely Johnson)

If an IV bag is partially used, or expired, it is no longer deemed safe for human use, but with the right method of heat-sealing the bag, it can still be safely used for animals.

Lifeblood developed a best-practice system to safely save the fluids and, by August, the first box of saline bags arrived at Merewether Veterinary Hospital's doorstep. 

"The nurses said, 'But it's half used, is it going to be enough?,'" Dr Cole said.

"What they're forgetting is that a cat weighs 4kg, and so, 200 millilitres of fluid for a cat might be 10 or 20 hours of fluids, depending on what's wrong with that cat."

National program

Lifeblood has expanded the program nationally, donating about 5,000 bags of saline to more than 100 vets and animal clinics across the country each month.

In addition to vets, Lifeblood has donated to rural animal clinics, the RSPCA's veterinary hospitals, and zoos.

The program includes 42 clinics in New South Wales, 23 in Victoria, 12 in Queensland and South Australia, nine in Western Australia, and six in the Northern Territory. 

Donated saline IV fluid has become a staple at Merewether Vet. (ABC Newcastle: Keely Johnson)

Australia Zoo veterinarian Ludovica Valenza said the donated saline from Lifeblood had allowed her team to continue lifesaving treatment. 

"We utilise those IV fluids for all sorts of species that come into the wildlife hospital, but koalas, an endangered species, rely on these lifesaving fluids," Dr Valenza said.

"Where we would normally purchase large volumes of intravenous fluids, we have now had to rely solely on donations."

While the IV fluid shortage continues in Australia, Lifeblood is encouraging more vets and animal clinics to join the program.