During a natural disaster or other emergency affecting the hospital’s water supply, the delivery of hemodialysis may not be possible. When the hospital’s water supply is interrupted or contaminated, the use of conventional dialysis machines that require an uninterrupted source of clean water, is no longer an option.
Because the NxStage System One uses prepackaged therapy fluid and doesn’t require any special plumbing or RO system, it can be used in place of intermittent hemodialysis machines in emergency situations. The treatment of ESRD or Acute patients can continue with PIRRT (Prolonged Intermittent Renal Replacement Therapy), a 6 – 12 hour therapy that can be used as an alternative to conventional IHD and/or CRRT.
"NxStage is committed to bringing solutions to patients and hospitals," said Joe Turk, President of NxStage Medical. "I hope the following situations will help other Dialysis Managers and Hospitals recognize that there is an alternative to delivering dialysis treatments to their patients."
For more information on PIRRT therapy, click here.
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Hurricane Harvey devastated East Texas, leaving many cities, hospitals and dialysis clinics without running water. Fortunately, for hospitals with power and access to the NxStage System One, they continued to deliver therapy to their Acute and ESRD patients. They were able to do this because the NxStage System One uses prepackaged fluids and doesn’t rely on the availability or purity of a public water supply. Using a prolonged, 6 – 12 hour intermittent renal replacement therapy (PIRRT), ESRD patients can be treated in place of conventional hemodialysis. PIRRT can also be used on some acute patients that can tolerate a 6 – 12 hour therapy, when there isn’t enough equipment to treat patients on 24-hour CRRT.
In Beaumont Texas, during Hurricane Harvey, the situation was critical, but they didn’t have the NxStage System One. In partnership with DaVita Hospital Services Group, NxStage responded to their urgent need, providing several machines and supplies, brought in clinical educators, protocols were written and a boot-camp-style training session was organized. As a result, patients were treated and the plan was a success, continuing for a week until water was restored.
A major water main break in North Carolina, caused an extreme water shortage and the loss of 1.5 million gallons of clean water. Dialysis patients being treated at area hospitals were unable to receive dialysis treatments that required an uninterrupted and clean water source.
Fortunately, for hospitals using the NxStage System One to treat critically ill patients requiring dialysis in the ICU, they were able to continue treating both their chronic and acute patients. The NxStage System One uses prepackaged fluids, eliminating the need for an external water source.
When this happened, a team of NxStage employees and hospital staff began coordinating the availability of equipment and supplies. They were successful treating patients over two shifts, using Prolonged Intermittent Renal Replacement Therapy (PIRRT), so that patients could receive this essential treatment without interruption.
Six years after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, medical leaders and support teams continue to help save the lives of people suffering from acute kidney injury. Immediately following the disaster, Brian Remillard, M.D., Section Chief of Nephrology and Hypertension at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), led a coordinated effort to bring the portable NxStage® System One™ to Haiti to provide on-site dialysis therapy to injured survivors. With support from NxStage, Remillard’s efforts have included emergency response following the earthquake, as well as long-term initiatives focused on improvements in renal care for patients in Haiti.
"I am committed as a doctor to providing care in the United States and in developing countries for both outpatient and acute inpatient dialysis," said Dr. Remillard. "The System One is extremely portable, easy to use and exactly what we needed to treat AKI patients we found in Haiti."
