Hospitals are facing a shortage of life-saving IV fluids due to damage caused by Hurricane Helene – and some have resorted to giving patients Gatorade as a makeshift treatment.
Baxter International, one of the largest IV solution suppliers in the US, provides roughly 60 percent of the intravenous solutions used every day during surgeries, in intensive care units, for dialysis patients and to administer life-saving medications.
The company’s manufacturing of those solutions has been halted, however, because of the extensive damage the category 4 storm caused at its facility in Marion, North Carolina.
To try and ration the fluids – which typically consist of water, electrolytes and sometimes sugar – some hospitals are canceling surgeries and turning to popular sports drinks to replenish crucial electrolytes in patients.