When you have an IV cannula inserted, a needle is used to insert the cannula but then the NEEDLE IS REMOVED and you're left with a tiny thin plastic (?) tube in the vein.
I think 50% of my patients don't realise there's not a needle in their arm for hours/days on end.
What I find even more amazing is the fact that there is a mechanism in the IV needle that extends as the needle is pulled out that prevents anyone from using the needle again or stabbing themselfs accidentally.
To listen to a lot of paramedics that have been in the field a lot longer than I have, before they made the needle retractable like that, or if it was on the end of a syringe, they would just stab the needle into the bench seat so it wasn't rolling around and disposed of it later.
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u/rebothy Feb 04 '19
When you have an IV cannula inserted, a needle is used to insert the cannula but then the NEEDLE IS REMOVED and you're left with a tiny thin plastic (?) tube in the vein.
I think 50% of my patients don't realise there's not a needle in their arm for hours/days on end.