ASPR team recognized for helping avert healthcare crisis after Hurricanes Helene and Milton

Imagine a hurricane crippling one of the country’s largest intravenous (IV) fluid production facilities. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, that’s exactly what happened. Hospitals and clinics depend on IV fluids to provide essential care, and the disruption in supply posed a severe risk to patient health nationwide.

On April 10, the Angels for Change Drug Shortage Guardian Award was presented to the ASPR IBMSC team and their agency partners in recognition of their outstanding efforts to maintain a steady supply of IV fluids in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, a crisis that threatened healthcare facilities across the country.

Rapid Behind the Scenes Efforts

Baxter International, Inc. supplies approximately 60% of IV solutions used in North America. When storm damage from Hurricane Helene at Baxter’s facility in North Carolina interrupted the company’s ability to produce and distribute IV Fluids, the ASPR IBMSC team – including Joe Hamel and Steve Goddard sprang into action with counterparts Scott Kidd from the General Services Administration, Jonathan Culp and Erin Uyeshiro both from the Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection, and Val Jensen from the Food and Drug Administration. Their collective mission? To prevent a critical IV fluid shortage that would have kept patients across the country from receiving the care they needed.

To achieve this mission, the interagency team:

• Coordinated a massive importation effort - bringing in approximately 13.9 million IV fluid units on 98 flights from five international facilities to rapidly replenish the supply chain.
• Streamlined customs clearance – required clearance steps that typically take 60 days were reduced to same-day priority review and received approval, ensuring IV fluids could be distributed immediately.
• Safeguarded domestic supplies - just before Hurricane Milton hit, the team helped move 60 truckloads of IV fluids already in shortage to safety, ensuring these vital fluids remained available for healthcare facilities in need.

By thinking strategically and taking these rapid actions, the team was able to prevent a full-blown crisis that could have left an untold number of hospitals struggling to provide life-saving care.

The impact was noticed. Angels for Change, patient advocacy organization dedicated to ending drug shortages, singled out the effort for an award, calling the effort “extraordinary, unsung hero work that…saved many lives.” The award highlighted the work that ASPR and its partners regularly do behind the scenes to support the private sector healthcare system supply chain after natural disasters and national emergencies.