IV tubing and safety

When young children have IVs on safety is very important.  I have a very active young fellow who is active during the day and his sleep. 
Twice when he was younger - he managed to detach his IV such that the blood began to squirt back out of him.  In this case - it is important to lock the IV and call a nurse ASAP. 

Another scary situation happened this summer when he was getting his IVIG.  My son turns and moves a lot during his sleep - this summer he was required to have his iv on overnight while he slept.  Luckily, I was sleeping in his room - a woke up in the middle of the night to find that he had gotten his IV tubing around his neck and the tension was lifting his head up.  Thank god it was the back of the neck.  In the past, several children have strangled themselves on IV tubing and a young boy died a few years ago from such an incident in the US.  In order to avoid this - the nurses began placing a hard plastic rod around his tubing so that when he slept so that he could not wrap it around his neck. 

A few safety measures and making sure that young children are attended to while they have IVs on should keep them safe during transfusions. 

Sharmin

Sharmin ,that was really scary. You are right, children should always be attended. Thanks for this important post

manal

Thanks Manal,

While I was typing this post I wondered whether other kids do this too - or is it just my little monkey who makes trouble....   

Sharmin

Of course other kids do that too,when ever Little Z goes to sleep while transfusing i have to keep a watch on her,but transfusions are always in day time so she sleeps for an hour or so,it would be more difficult if it was at night.

Zaini.