At one time or another, many of us have had to visit a hospital Emergency Room. Medical situations that need immediate attention have often placed us in the ER for 24 hour emergency care, for lack of any other options.

Other times, we have visited an urgent care center. Some of the urgent care benefits include shorter wait times and more convenient hours. In any case, when we need medical attention, we have the option of an urgent care or an ER. And sometimes we need to be admitted to the hospital.

Many times, patients admitted to the hospital have to be hooked up to an IV pump. Actually, 86% of the patients who are admitted to the hospital need to be hooked up to an IV pump, according to the University of Michigan Health Systems department of Materiel Services. Saline is the most common fluid used in an IV.

In considering the many advantages of IV pumps, there is one aspect that is distinctly most important. It is this: the fastest way to get medicine or fluid into the body is with the use of and IV. Using intravenous therapy gets 100% of the medicine into the body quickly so it can start helping the patient. Of course, use of this method requires IV pump training.

However, with so many hospital patients requiring an IV pump, and staff requiring IV pump training, hospitals are faced with two key matters. These are, first, the cost for hospital equipment and second, the need for IV pump training.

First, hospital equipment rentals can be very expensive. At any given time, 35,000 SKUs of equipment are rented or owned by the average hospital. Costs, naturally have to be passed along and patients can be affected; just one day in 2013 in a U.S. hospital cost about $4,293.

Secondly, IV pump training is technical and needs to be done properly. Basically, there are two different types of pumps: small volume pumps which administer medicine (or hormones), and large volume pumps which feed patients with large nutrient solutions.

In addition to training for the two types of pumps, IV pump training must also cover how fluids are given through an IV. There are two ways in which the rate and amount of fluids through an IV are regulated: by using an electric pump, and manually. Both methods require special IV pump training.

To sum up, most of us would rather not think about sudden illnesses, accidents or a hospital stay as we go about our everyday routines. But it’s a great relief to know that hospitals are equipped with IV pumps and that staff professionals are receiving IV pump training to offer even better medical care for everyone.