The missing link: Catheter Connections has developed a novel device that disinfects and protects all exposed IV access points

Mike Howlett and Jim Mercer, infusion nurses with more than 40 years combined experience, knew something more was needed when it came to protecting patients from catheter related blood stream infections (CRBSIs). They invented a device, DualCap™, developed and manufactured by Catheter Connections that they believe will revolutionize infection control.

“It seems obvious that the male luer is a significant source of IV line contamination and subsequent infection. We set out not only to solve the problem of the male luer but to create a device to disinfect and protect all exposed IV access points.”
-Vicki Farrar

CRBSIs are a major healthcare concern, not only because they are life-threatening but because Medicare and other insurances are not reimbursing for the costs to treat these infections. Consequently, tremendous effort goes into prevention. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations established National Patient Safety Goals that requires hospitals to fully implement evidence-based practice guidelines to prevent CRBSIs. Even with these measures (hand-hygiene, maximum barrier protection, skin antiseptics, optimal catheter insertion site selection, and line checks) hospitals are still struggling to keep their rates down.

DualCap disinfects and protects needleless injection sites.

Mike and Jim found the missing link. After an IV catheter is placed, the needless injection site (NIS) is connected to the male luer at the end of the IV tubing to deliver medication, fluid or nutrition to patients. The NIS is a known route of microbial contamination and consequently the CDC and other guidelines require that the NIS be swabbed with disinfectant, typically 70% isopropyl alcohol, prior to accessing it. Compliance is notoriously poor. More significant is the fact that alcohol swabbing is often not fully effective in killing all microbes on the NIS. "I wondered why it's acceptable for IV catheter injection sites to become contaminated and then rely on alcohol swabs for decontamination," says Mike Howlett RN, MS, CRNI. "Why not prevent contamination from occurring in the first place?"

However, keeping the NIS disinfected is only part of the problem. "We need to consider the other half of an IV catheter connection - the IV tubing end. Any portion of an IV catheter system that is prone to contamination needs to be protected. I can't tell you how many times I've encountered IV tubing ends that are left hanging on IV poles either unprotected exposed to air or inappropriately connected to their own Y-site."

This forgotten connection is what intrigued Vicki Farrar, CEO of Catheter Connections, "It seems obvious that the male luer is a significant source of IV line contamination and subsequent infection," said Vicki Farrar. "We set out not only to solve the problem of the male luer but to create a device to disinfect and protect all exposed IV access points."

Jim Mercer, RN, BSN, a 20 year nursing and vascular access veteran, is an advocate of using technology to solve healthcare issues. "We desperately need a complete device solution that is quick and easy for the nurses to use, safe for the patients and cost-effective for the hospital system." By partnering with Catheter Connections and a host of industry experts and medical device engineers, DualCap in a unique, patent-pending nested configuration was developed.

DualCap is the only product to safely disinfects and protects the male luer

DualCap is a sterile, single-use device containing two disinfecting caps - one for the NIS and one for the exposed end of the IV tubing (male luer). Each cap contains 70% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and a patent-pending delivery mechanism that prevents IPA, which can be toxic, from entering the fluid pathway. By using in vitro studies, DualCap has been proven to significantly reduce the bacterial contamination associated with catheter related blood stream infections. For the first time, there is a technology that safely disinfects both the NIS and the male luer. By using DualCap, the NIS and the male luer can be kept disinfected right from the start and every time the line is accessed.

DualCap can also save nursing time and can reduce the human variability associated with IV care. "With DualCap, all the issues related to compliance are gone," says Jim Mercer. "When you use DualCap, the task is accomplished and there is no potential for poor clinical practice to impact good patient care."

"We believe that DualCap is indeed 'the missing link' in the understanding and prevention of CRBSIs," says Vicki Farrar. "By disinfecting and protecting all exposed IV connections, hospitals now have sustainable prevention solution. DualCap is an easy to use, cost-effective technology that we believe will be a turning point in the fight against catheter related blood stream infections."

Biography

Vicki Farrar is the co-founder and CEO of Catheter Connections, a vascular access and infection control device manufacturer. Prior to Catheter Connections, she was VP of Legal, IP and Regulatory Affairs at Cognetix, Q Therapeutics, and was in private practice for 30 years as an attorney representing healthcare companies.