My journey through COVID-19

I had such high hopes for 2020. We started the year at the National Infusion and Vascular Access Society (NIVAS) with plans to produce practical, national guidelines for vascular access and IV therapy practice and develop a nationally accredited qualification for vascular access. Sadly, our best laid plans were not to be and these projects are on hold.

COVID-19 has affected all of us in many different ways. As the chair of NIVAS and as an IVAS service lead in my own hospital, my focus has been the same: what can we do in vascular access differently to adapt and cope with the pandemic? As it turned out, vascular access was at the forefront of our COVID-19 strategy, and we have learned some valuable lessons. We found that peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) were not the most suitable catheter for our critical care COVID-19 patients. Acute non-tunnelled neck central venous catheters (CVCs) were more reliable, short midlines placed with ultrasound scan were invaluable and the use of arterial catheters increased as the need for regular blood gas analysis became more relevant.