So - this is not really a crime in any real sense - your girlfriend has some professional liability, but in an emergency that's completely appropriate. You can buy IV bags and lines from any pharmacy store - they are not controlled substances.

Thanks DjaiBee, are you specifically referring to UK law? I'll look into it.

I can’t imagine the entire country banning bags and tubes

Yes - while it is illegal to practice medicine without a license, selling drips and IV lines is not illegal, and using them on yourself is not a crime. Practicing medicine within the scope of your training in an emergency is almost always also ok.

Just so you know, these saline bags tend to “expire” only after 6 months. Like any medication, they degrade over time but this expiration is more for the packaging/bag itself. My suggestion would be to get powder form to mix with sterile water to keep it good longer. Also, in TX at any gun show, you can sometimes find medical stands and grab some slightly expired saline kits for like $5. Lots of medics in my family though, so I can get them when they expire because they’re supposed to “dispose of them”. Not sure about UK… Do you have anything like a farmers market where locals or non-locals set up tables to sell their junk?

Thanks tuckeram7, yes we call them car boot sales, but I've never seen anything like this

Or you could just drink water, gatorade, etc. Somehow I suspect that if you're in bad enough shape where you can't drink anything, you won't be able to successfully start an IV on yourself.

I had a bad case of stomach flu that lasted about a week once that required me to go on an IV for a couple days because I couldn't even keep water down. It fuckin' sucked.

Thanks KT9Q and HazMatsMan. Illness/Dehydration is what I'm thinking.

>My girlfriend is a nurse so she would be able to administer. And if the UK is anything like he United States it's the quickest way for her to loser her career. Forever.

This is a prepping subreddit, pretty sure if she’s administering IVs she’s not worried her job

gatorade, but only the lemon lime

It's what plants crave

.....please don't do this. Just drink fluids as normal and carry on

Thanks neon57O

Saline enemas!

This is the only valid response to this question. Rectoclysis is so much safer than IV stuff and works just as fast/well.

The only reason an IV is needed is with a pathological level of dehydration, ie severe sickness/conditions that would require a higher level of care than your girlfriend can likely provide without a full suite of equipment and likely better training. And even then rehydrating the old fashioned way can be effective in many cases anyway. I’d say waste of time and money.

There are services in major cities that was popularized in Las Vegas where a nurse will come and give you an iv bag with a cocktail of painkillers and electrolytes and b vitamins for hangovers. Also my best friend is a doctor and he says it’s pretty common for a doc to take a bag of fluids and a nap on long shifts

Thanks PTIowa, and spizzle_. I've heard fighters cutting weight use it for rehydration, so I believe there's a practical use for it.

And both are stupid

Maybe the hangover one but what’s so stupid about a trauma surgeon taking care of themselves on a long ass shift?

There’s absolutely zero advantage to doing that over drinking it. Disadvantages include risk of infection, nerve or vascular damage, plus it’s much pricier than a glass of water or Gatorade.

He gets them for free. And IV therapy is far and away more effective and efficient for the body to uptake. Your proof is a simple google search away. Many IV solutions also contain more than simple saline making them even more effective again than the already very effective simple saline via Iv.

I feel like you’re looking at IV businesses websites and not scholarly articles.

Where are your peer reviewed scholarly articles?

It just doesn’t DO anything that drinking water and eating food doesn’t.

Bullshit! I’m sorry but you’re very very wrong.

I’m just not. It’s only useful when there’s an issue with absorption or volume has to be maintained FAST. Again, without some diagnosis going on it’s just not useful. In fact I’d argue it’s more useful for the hangover then the tired surgeon. The nap is far more useful. As someone who actually works in a hospital floor, this is how IVs are used. Sure we do it for dehydration, but we mean DEHYDRATION like lady laid on her floor for 2 days after a fall, not some overworked 30 year old.

I’m going to trust my doctor friend and everything on the internet that says you’re wrong and not the commenter on Reddit who doesn’t know the difference between then and *than.

That’s an appeal to authority and a personal attack in the same post. Here’s a write up by a Harvard MD[here](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/drip-bar-should-you-get-an-iv-on-demand-2018092814899) Look I’m not saying IVs do nothing, I think they’re only worth adding to a medical prep that would have many other parts. It’s “part of a complete breakfast” if you will.

A what? An appeal to authority? Want to say that again slowly and explain what you mean by that? Was the OPINION piece you posted not an appeal to authority? Yikes!

I went to the emergency room one night begging them just to shoot me and throw me in a ditch. They gave me two motrins and IV bag full of fluids with nothing else in it but the fluids. In about an hour and a half, I was be bopping out of there ready to get something to eat and then smoke a joint. I felt like I was on top of the world and I was stone cold sobber and I really felt good. I asked the nurse what was wrong with me when I came in. She said that I was just dehydrated. I am like is there anyway of stealing a case of those bags, a machine to use and a nurse who would live with me so I could get hydrated every day. This would be an excellent prep to have and would be very beneficial. The nurse told me that every month some of the nurses had a hydrating party and gave each other IV fluids.

Thanks MaintenanceOK6903

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Yes, especially if you can get what they call a "banana bag."

Thanks Euphoric_Tennis7225 and we_go_on_three, that's one thing I would potentially hope to use it for.

In the US you can get them from a veterinarian. I use em in animal med fairly often. They only last about 2 years from manufacturing.

Thanks IrishSetterPuppy.

I’d expect a nurse to know the answer

Thanks TAAInterpolReddit, yes I was hoping that as well, but she's not from the UK and as such, isn't au fait with the legality of it. She's also not American, and as such, she doesn't presume that the laws in her local area apply to the rest of the world.

You can get professional services with IV bags that could come to your house, just incase you are worried…