An essential skill of any innovative troubleshooter in the Emergency Department is the ability to recognize when one piece of equipment may be used elsewhere. For instance, what’s your go-to approach when looking for a spare guidewire? Let’s say you are trying to salvage an ultrasound-guided basilic vein IV catheterization.
Here’s where I go for guidewires:
- Central line kits
- Pneumothorax pigtail kits
- Seldinger-based cricothyrotomy kits
Trick of the Trade
Seldinger-based Arrow arterial lines
Thanks to Dr. Kennedy Hall (UCSF-SFGH EM resident), he recently discovered that the Seldinger-based arterial lines, made by Arrow, have removable guidewires! If you look closely along the length of the transparent guidewire sheath, there is a narrow slit which allows you to remove the guidewire. The added bonus is that there is a black plastic handle at one end of the guidewire which can protect against losing the guidewire into a catheter.
Whoa, it’s like magic.
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