Storing medical supplies at first aid and keeping IV meds cool?

disfan07

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 25, 2006
Is it possible store medical supplies including IV fluids, saline, heparin, etc at first aid? I'm going to probably need 1 or 2 liters of IV fluids while in Magic a Kingdom and we don't want to go back to the hotel to do it because we only have 1 days in the park.

Also, I need to travel with IV Benadryl right now because of a severe anaphylactic reaction I had last weekend. I get it every 4 hours. It was suggested to me by a couple of doctors and nurses to prepare the syringes in the morning and just take 5 prepared doses plus an extra vial for emergencies. My only concern is that once the meds are prepared they need to stay cold. I was thinking of a frio pack for it but I'm not sure if that will be sufficient in September heat. Does anyone have experience with keeping IV meds cool in the park?

And as a side question, any advice on flying with IV meds and syringes? My nurse and doctor would rather me prepare all my doses before we go to the airport because they don't want me to have to worry about finding a safe place to prepare the meds and they don't want me to be rushing through med prep if we end up with a delay getting to airport/through security. And I will need 2 doses while flying and they definitely do not want me peeping meds on the flight. Is it even possible for me to prepare 5 doses and get it through security without the syringes being labeled? Or is that going to basically be impossible? I've traveled with my port accessed before and supplies like saline, heparin, etc but I've only ever traveled while needing TPN which is just usually shipped to our destination. I've never had to deal with IV meds and flying before.
 
Yes you can leave it at first aid and there is a fridge to keep it cool they even have an iv pool
 
I've been travelling with filled syringes for years and have never been questioned about them by any airport security, at home or abroad.. A frio pack should be fine for your needs. First aid will store your supplies and provide a room for you to use while you infuse. Since the Benadryl causes pronounced sedation, I assume you will be using first aid for this as well. They'll let you sleep off the effects as long as you need. Sounds like you won't have very much time actually doing anything in the park.
 
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Out of curiosity, why didn't your physician recommend getting prefilled syringes from the pharmacy, since they can be ordered in that form?
 
Benadryl doesn't make me drowsy so not concerned about that. I usually just need to sit for 5-10 mins after my dose because it does some minor GI discomfort but it doesn't make me drowsy.

I've never seen prefilled Benadryl syringes. I've always only gotten the 50mg/ml vials.
 
That is a lot of IV Benadryl. Holy crap.

Anyway, is that for your current reaction and treating the symptoms, or are you prepping these syringes just in case you have a reaction? If you have a new reaction you need to get Epinephrine (Epi-Pen or Auvi-Q) immediately, and go to an ER. Have them call Reedy Creek for transport immediately! They will do it with no issues.

I incidentally had to have Reedy Creek called our last vacation. I felt horrible that they had to call them, and while I didn't need transport, they were so professional (foreign body in my eye - they saved me an ER visit).

Anyway... back to the whole use of Benadryl and anti-histamines when having an attack. Current studies are showing that if you take an antihistamine during an acute attack you increase the risk of a biphasic reaction (basically, an attack that may seem to get better at first, but it actually rebounds and second attack occurs - often worse).

Is there a reason everything is IV / TPN now and you are taking nothing by mouth? Are you totally on TPN for your nutrition? I'm curious, what did you react to if taking nothing PO? Was it something you ran into, something in the air?

We haven't seen you lately. Good luck.
 
I've been travelling with filled syringes for years and have never been questioned about them by any airport security, at home or abroad.. A frio pack should be fine for your needs. First aid will store your supplies and provide a room for you to use while you infuse. Since the Benadryl causes pronounced sedation, I assume you will be using first aid for this as well. They'll let you sleep off the effects as long as you need. Sounds like you won't have very much time actually doing anything in the park.
I may be incorrect, but I am assuming you were traveling with pre-filled syringes, which would be marked by the manufacturer with the contents and in sealed packaging (probably clear plastic or cellophane).
Traveling with those kind of refilled syringes is not likely to be a big deal.
Traveling with multiple filled, unmarked, unidentifiable ones could very well be a big deal.
You can contact TSA ahead of time to discuss.
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/passenger-support

You may also need/want to contact the airline about your situation. Given that you are continuing treatment for an extreme medical condition, they may have some need for documentation that you are medically cleared for travel. I would certainly discuss that with your doctors.

Personally, I would not go while still on treatment for an acute, life threatening problem. But if you are determined to, you want to make sure you have considered everything.
Out of curiosity, why didn't your physician recommend getting prefilled syringes from the pharmacy, since they can be ordered in that form?
If your doctors are saying the don't want you filling syringes in 'iffy' situations, they should be looking into other alternatives. It's possible your doctors might not be aware that they are available pre filled for consumer use, but when we have had questions like that, our doctor called the Pharmacist to get suggestions.
You can also contact the Pharmacist where you get your prescription filled. They should be able to work with the doctor to get a prescription for at least enough pre filled ones for the air travel. The Pharmacist can also give you correct guidelines for storage if you do have pre filled syringes.
Pre filled syringes would take care of TSA concerns and also concerns with drawing up on the plane.

I would suggest not drawing them up before going to the park. Take the empty syringes and bottles with you to the park. You can easily draw them up in First Aid.
 


How long are you planning to be in the park?
I'm asking because 2 Liters of fluid would usually be a 24 hour amount of fluid for someone not getting fluid from other sources. I don't understand the reason for doing that much while you are in the park - would you be planning for a very long day?
If so, you might want to rethink what you are doing when because doing the fluids is going to be time consuming and if you only have one park day, you might want to plan.
 
You might can check with your home infusion company to see if they can prepare the benadryl in syringes which they could lable for you. Or even give you some lables for once you prepare them. I work for a home infusion company, and we make exceptions for when patients are travelling.
 

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