The latest barrage of hurricanes to hit the southeast have sparked a nationwide shortage of IV fluids.

Hurricane Helene damaged a factory near Asheville, North Carolina that produces 60-percent of the country's supply of fluids used to hydrate surgical patients and mixed with other medications and chemotherapies.

Some facilities are using oral hydration rather than intravenous.

Then Hurricane Milton caused a temporary closure of the plant in Daytona Beach which distributes a quarter of the nation's IV fluids.

As a result, Florida hospitals, as well as those across the US are rationing fluids to make supplies last longer.

Some hospital officials say they expect the IV fluid shortage to be "a long-term issue" complicated by the fact that the U.S. sends saline to Ukraine.

President and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, Mary Mayhew, says hospitals are preserving every drop of IV fluid and supplies are not a crisis level yet.

Currently, elective surgeries have not been postponed, however, there's concern for shortages among dialysis patients and at-home IV users.

Baxter International factory in Asheville initially limited customers to 40% of typical supplies. Mayhew says that's now up to 60%.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the temporary shipments from Baxter's headquarters in the United Kingdom, Ireland, China, and Canada on Wednesday.

“FDA will continue working with Baxter to identify both potential products already in their system and alternative manufacturing sites, including for potential temporary imports," Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told health providers in a letter. "As alternatives are identified, FDA is expediting assessments of those options."

Hospital officials say that if President Biden declares a "public health emergency," hospitals could prepare sterile IV solutions in their own pharmacies and extend shelf-life expiration dates.

Baxter said it plans to reopen its North Carolina plant in phases and return to full operations by the end of the year.

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