Protective Grabber Shields Against Sharps Injuries

The MedeGrip is an I-shaped gripping device for use in vascular access that is made of flexible foam that provides clinicians with both a defensive barrier and a soft grip, allowing the manipulation of Luer connections or glass ampoules to be safe and effective. Using the MedeGrip also has ramifications in protection against potential legal liability inherent in the mishandling of luers and ampoules, such as contamination due to the use of a hemostat to grip a luer connection, or sharps injuries from broken ampoules held with a gauze bandage.

The MedeGrip is a product of Medithon Health Products (Bloomingdale, NJ, USA) and comes in two sizes, a small foam grip for twisting luer connections and a larger model for use as an ampule breaker.

“We have yet to focus a campaign towards changing the end caps every 7 days or with our primary tubing change. Without this being done, all the protection in the world will not help us to prevent catheter related bloodstream infections,” said MedeGrip inventor Matthew Ostroff, RN, BSN. “There are two problems with this aspect of care; the end caps can become very tight on central lines and difficult to remove, leading to the dangerous practice of applying hemostats to the end cap as well as the end of the catheter risking cracking the device. And worse, these hemostats go from patient to patient, or the end cap is not changed at all.”

“It is a dream come true to finally realize a drawing on a napkin come to life and now aid his fellow clinicians,” added Mr. Ostroff. “There has long been a need in our field for a specially designed gripping device. This is not just about comfort and effectiveness, although they are certainly important. It is also about healthcare worker and patient safety.”

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