Patient Stories
“My wife has been hospitalized several times and is a “horrible stick”. After being stuck several times (even with the ultrasound), they end up getting the Anesthesiologist or the Life Flight Medics to draw blood or start her IV. Today we had surgery and the nurse brought in the AccuVein to do the IV. The Nurse did a perfect stick right away. If I had the money, I would get one just for the times she comes in! I would recommend it be on every department of the hospital.”
“After years of being stuck, it has been horribly difficult to access my wife’s veins. It’s not uncommon for someone from the anesthesia department to have to come in to get an IV working for her. The RN brought in a new tool from AccuVein that made visually finding an IV-worthy vein incredibly easy. Thanks for investing in this technology.”
“I want to share with you my recent hospital experience with AccuVein Vein Visualization Device. I was being prepped for surgery and the only fear I had was the process of inserting the IV needle into the back of my hand or in my forearm. I have a history of being a “tough stick”. I am told I have deep small veins that are hard to find. I am a healthy male, age 58 and like to consider myself a “tough guy” when it comes to pain. My prior experience with IV’s and blood draws, etc has been sheer torture! I beg and plead for the nurse or phlebotomist to “not guess” and just stick and probe me hoping to find a vein. This past experience was no different.
"No less than 4 RN’s (yes, all RN’s) gathered around me and in a group effort tried to insert the IV catheter into the back of my right hand. The RN dug and probed with the needle until she gave up. This was absolute TORTURE! Another RN then tried to find a vein on my left hand, but decided against trying because she saw that I had hematoma’s from my last IV massacre. She then decided to look at the tender area of my forearm.
"She was looking and palpating and then went for it and stuck me with no luck. She then began the, as I describe it, painful “probing and digging” with the needle. It was then that a vendor arrived in the OR prep room and offered to demo the AccuVein Vein Visualization Device. It was a Godsend! He directed the device over my arm and we could actually see that the needle was sliding off the vein. With the guidance of the Vein Finder the RN was able to direct the needle directly into the vein successfully!
"Thank you for helping me and I hope that the AccuVein Vein Visualization Device can help other patients avoid a lot of pain and suffering.
"I write this testimonial hoping that other care facilities consider acquiring the AccuVein Vein Visualization Device.”
"I’ve never written a letter like this, but after my trip to the ER and subsequent hospitalization, well, how could I not? I went in on March 3, 2018 suffering from severe vomiting and extreme dehydration (recurring problems I’ve suffered for over thirty years). The first IV took three stabs, which frankly surprised me since I’m accustomed to usually twice that number (a lot of ERs only allow nurses or techs to try twice, before they’re required to request someone else. There’s always, always someone else.)
"Of course, the IVs only last so long and on the second day, while in cardiac care (vomit enough and your heart fails), the first IV site was blown, and the nurse went hunting for another vein. After announcing that I had no veins, another nurse was summoned, who also concluded that I had no veins (yeah, they really said that). After the second’s first unsuccessful stab, he muttered something about getting the vein finder.
"'You have a vein finder?' I yelled at him. 'There’s such a thing as a vein finder?' Stud finders, metal detectors, these I’ve had experience with and grasped the concept instantly. 'Get the !@#$%! vein finder!' I said. (Yeah, I really said that.) Supervisor was summoned and the new AccuVein was signed out (suggesting to me that as much as I’d do myself a huge favor by never going to an ER without my own, it’s going to be out of my price range at this point) and rolled in. First, the nurse showed me it working on his arm. Big, wide, straight and pretty veins in that kid’s arm! (Show-off) Then, mine.
"Turns out, I do have veins. (Read that in a wry, sardonic, voice, with just whiff of sarcasm, would ya?) Tiny, squiggly, don’t run straight for more than a 1/10 of a millimeter veins. I should win a prize for squiggly veins. But, with the AccuVein shining from the stand (good form factor actualization, by the way), Nurse got it on the next stab and was able to pick a site that lasted until, today, March 30, 2018, when I was released.
"Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera with me at the time as barfing my guts out never really leaves me feeling selfie-ready, so there’s no accompanying photo to prove I’m the heads-out favorite for the squiggly vein prize, but hey, at least you’ve got this email.
"In the future, should I have to go back to an ER, I will be demanding the !@#$%! vein finder before the FIRST stab. Probably won’t do a whole hell of a lot of good, until the third stab, but I think they should be standard practice after the first IV stab failure. And then, people like me, won’t come home with forearms so covered in bruises that friends and neighbors think they should call the cops because we look like abuse victims (yeah, someone really asked me that once).
"The hospital is in Sherman Oaks, California.
"So, that’s the story. Today, I came home without my forearms looking like a cadaver’s. Thanks for manufacturing such a useful device as it’s about !@#$%! time somebody did."
