ProtectIV Safety IV Catheter
The ProtectIV (by ICU Medical) is a peripheral IV catheter with a built-in safety needle shield. It is a straight-hub (wingless), color-coded catheter made of radiopaque polymer, designed to prevent accidental needlesticks. (As the manufacturer notes, ProtectIV catheters are “designed to protect the healthcare worker from risk of accidental needlestick injuries".) In practice you use ProtectIV just like a normal IV catheter but with an added safety feature: after you’ve accessed the vein and are ready to withdraw the needle, the catheter’s safety mechanism is engaged (typically by pressing a button or slider) so that the sharp needle tip is immediately covered or retracted into the hub. This locks the needle away and eliminates the sharps hazard before you flush or secure the line..
Insertion steps
Insertion steps (summary) – Use full aseptic technique. Perform hand hygiene and glove up, apply a tourniquet and choose a vein, and clean the skin with antiseptic (e.g. 2% chlorhexidine) allowing it to dry. Remove the needle cap on the ProtectIV and insert the needle-and-catheter assembly into the skin at a shallow angle. Advance until you see a flash of blood in the catheter’s flashback chamber (many ProtectIV kits use a notched “Instaflash” needle for instant visual confirmation). Once you have flashback, advance the soft catheter a little further, then reduce angle and release the tourniquet. Hold the catheter hub securely and remove the needle: at this point the ProtectIV’s safety cover snaps over the needle tip. Attach a saline flush syringe and gently flush the catheter to confirm blood return and patency. If it flushes smoothly, clamp the line and remove the syringe. Finally apply a transparent dressing to secure the catheter and label it (date/time/gauge). Dispose of the needle in a sharps container – it will already be locked away inside the protector.
Sizes (gauges and length)
ProtectIV catheters come in the full range of standard peripheral IV gauges. Typical sizes are 24 gauge (yellow) for very small veins, 22G (blue), 20G (pink) (common for routine adult IVs), 18G (green) and 16G (gray) for high-flow needs, up to 14G (orange) for large-bore access. The corresponding catheter lengths (roughly ¾" to 1¼") increase with larger gauge. Each gauge is color-coded per usual convention (yellow=24G, blue=22G, pink=20G, green=18G, gray=16G, orange=14G). All ProtectIV catheters are radiopaque, meaning the catheter tip is visible on X-ray. The manufacturer’s product tables (for both polyurethane and polyether-block-amide [FEP] versions) show these gauges and colors for the straight-hub ProtectIV catheters.
ProtectIV is a safety-engineered peripheral IV catheter that is used exactly like any IV cannula but with a built-in needle shield. Follow standard IV insertion steps (skin prep, aseptic insertion, blood flashback, advance catheter, remove needle, flush and secure). Once in place and flush-checked, the catheter remains in the vein for infusion while the sharp needle is safely locked away.