The Kennebec Valley EMS Council is a non-profit corporation created under the laws of the State of Maine to act as an extension of Maine EMS in providing quality improvement, EMS education, and resource development services to the ambulance, rescue, and first responder services as well as hospitals and other health care agencies or organizations in Kennebec, Somerset, and Western Waldo Counties.

Region 3 News

***Epinephrine Changes***

KVEMS Region 3 Service Chiefs-

We have been communicating with the hospitals over the last couple of weeks because of the reported 1:10,000 Epinephrine shortage. The difficulty is that not all hospitals are seeing a shortage yet.we have also been notified of a decision by some hospitals to remove multi-dose vials of Epi 1:1,000 and replace them with Epi-Pens. The purpose of this e-mail is to shed some light on what you may see as well as encourage you to make sure you have an open communication channel to your supplying pharmacy.

If a hospital runs out of Epi 1:10,000 prefilled syringes, you may see either;

1.     A single-use kit placed in your drug kit that contains: 1 amp of 1mg/ml 1:1,000 Epi; 1 syringe with either 9 or 10ml of saline; and 1 filter needle. There should be mixing instructions included with each of these kits. If there is 10ml of saline in the syringe, you will need to waste 1ml of saline before you draw up the Epi from the ampule into the syringe.

2.    Some hospitals have indicated that they will make their own prefilled Epi 1:10,000 syringes and place them in the drug boxes.

If you hospital indicates that they wish to completely remove the multi-dose vials of 1:1,000 EPI and replace them with EPI Pens, remind them that we will need to keep at least 1 or 2 vials of the single dose 1:1,000 epi ampules in the drug kit for those pediatric patients who weigh less than 15kgs. Even the EPI Pen jr contains too much Epi for these patients.

We have asked the hospitals to notify us and the services if they have to make changes to the drug boxes, but there is bound to be some that slip through, so please notify your medics about these potential changes so they can be prepared. We have also heard that there may be additional drug shortages coming this fall, so it is important to make sure you have a contact at your supplying pharmacy that you communicate with regularly.

If there are any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Rick Petrie, EMT-P, Regional Coordinator

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