Emergency medical responders that need to administer medications or fluids in emergency situations are often slowed down by patients with hard-to-find or collapsed veins. Emergency medical service providers at Regions Hospital in St. Paul are using a new device that allows them to administer medications or fluids to individuals quickly in difficult or dangerous emergency situations. The EZ-IO, made by VidaCare, a Texas medical device company, provides intravenous fluids fast: a needle is inserted, or drilled, into a soft area of a patient’s leg bone. The needle then becomes a port to deliver lifesaving medication into the bone marrow. The new technology provides improved pre-hospital care during the crucial minutes of an emergency.

The device looks like a power drill and has caused some alarm among onlookers, but it’s saving time for medics working on people in critical situations, such as those experiencing cardiac arrest or diabetic reactions.