Hospital left an IV line in after discha

Call the discharge nurse line now and ask them to send a nurse to take the line out — and cut nothing else on it from this moment.

Cutting the tubing does not take the cannula out of the vein. It leaves the line in place with its closed system broken, which is the state most likely to bleed, leak, or let air in. So the cutting has not made this smaller; it has made it a nurse's job. I also cannot tell from here whether this is a small hand/arm cannula or a central line (PICC/port) — that difference changes who removes it and how quickly. The discharge nurse line is the right door: it is the team that put the line in, and it can send someone, tell you the written removal plan, or point you to the same hospital's emergency department.

1) What you already tried vs. the better alternative

Better, in this order:

1. The discharge nurse line — ask for a nurse to come to the house today. Many wards have a home IV-therapy or district nurse service precisely for a line left in at discharge.
2. If nobody can come today, the emergency department of the same hospital, with the discharge letter in hand. That is not a failure — it is the same door when the nurse line cannot send someone.
3. Ask for the written facts in one call: what type of line it is, the date it was placed, what it is meant to be infusing, how long it should stay in, and the 24-hour number for the IV team. If the person still needs medicine through the line (for example antibiotics), ask whether a home infusion nurse can do it — that often replaces the hospital trip entirely.

Call script — read it out as it is:

> "Hello, this is [name]. [Patient] was discharged from [ward] on [date] with an IV line still in place. I need a nurse to assess it and take it out. Can someone come to the house today, or should we come in? What type of line is it, when was it put in, and what is it meant to be infusing? We cut the extension tubing at [time] — is there anything we should do about that right now? Is there a 24-hour number for the IV team?"

Short version, if you end up at the emergency department:

> "My [relative] was discharged with an IV line still in. It was cut at [time]. They are [well / unwell]. I need a nurse to assess and remove it and check the site."

2) Tonight's rules — the avoid list

• Do not cut, snip, pull, slide, flush, or push anything through the line.
• Do not reconnect, re-cap, tape over, or seal the cut end with tape, glue, dressings, or anything else.
• Do not start, stop, speed up, or re-time the infusion yourself, and do not add or skip any medicine because of the line.
• Do not put creams, powders, alcohol, peroxide, iodine, or herbal remedies on the site — nothing new at the site at all, and nothing bought online.
• Do not bathe, swim or soak that arm. For a shower, put a clean towel over a plastic bag, keep it loose, and dry the site after.
• Keep the arm still and supported, and keep the tubing from being tugged by clothes, bags or bedding.
• Meals and fluids stay normal — food you already have at home, the usual school week, the usual household rhythm. Nothing about the line changes what the person eats.

Where my limits sit: I cannot diagnose from here, and I have no coverage for a home removal protocol for your particular line — so none of this replaces the discharge team's own written instructions. The nurse on that line can confirm the type of line, the removal method and who should do it; that confirmation is what makes the next step safe.

The next 25 minutes, while you wait for the nurse line to call back:

1. Photograph the site and the cut end, with the time of day visible. Note the date the line was placed.
2. Write on one sheet: type of line if the paperwork says, what it is infusing, the temperature and the time you took it, and the medicines and allergies from the discharge letter.
3. Put the discharge letter, the discharge medicine list and any infusion packaging in one bag by the door.
4. Check the temperature and write down the time, tonight and in the morning. Note any shivering, and note if the person is simply "not themselves" — in an older adult that counts even without a fever.
5. Split the load: you own the phone calls, and the sibling or elder nearby stays with the person and watches for the signs in part 3. If a second adult is free this evening, that is the one who stays awake alongside.

3) Red flags — stop the DIY and get help

Call your local emergency number now if any of these appear:

• Shortness of breath, or a new chest pain.
• Sudden confusion, unusual drowsiness, or being hard to wake.
• Fainting, or looking pale, sweaty and cold with a racing heart.
• The site bleeds and does not stop with firm, steady pressure after a few minutes.
• A piece of the line appears to be missing, or you can see the line looks cut or frayed under the skin.
• The infusion stops dripping, or blood backs up into the tube.
• The hand or arm swells, or the fingers go numb or tingly.
• Shaking chills, or the person goes from "a bit off" to clearly unwell quickly.

Same day — call the nurse line now, and ask to be seen today if you cannot be seen sooner:

• Any redness, warmth, swelling or tenderness running along the vein, or pus or foul-smelling fluid at the site.
• A fever, even without chills. With a line still in place, a temperature needs same-day advice rather than a wait-and-see.
• In an elder: new confusion, refusing food, staying in bed, or anything that is plainly "not themselves".
• The site is leaking, or the dressing is soaked.

I am not diagnosing anything here. Only the team who puts eyes on the line can tell whether the site needs antibiotics, whether the line can stay, and whether it has to be replaced.

Decision tree — screenshot this

Is the person unwell right now (breathless, confused, faint, chest pain, shaking chills)?
→ Yes: call your local emergency number now. Do not touch the line.
→ No: Is there redness along the vein, swelling, pus, a fever, or bleeding that will not stop?
→ Yes: same-day review. Nurse line now; emergency department if they cannot see you today.
→ No: nothing more to the line. Nurse line → nurse home visit, or an appointment to come in for removal. Arm dry and still until someone trained removes it.

What success looks like in the next 24 hours

• Someone with training has removed the line, or has given you a written plan and a time for it.
• The site is dry, not red, not leaking; the temperature is written down and there is no fever.
• The person is eating, sleeping and moving as usual, and the school week and the rest of the household are not disrupted.
• You are holding: the discharge letter, the medicine list, one timestamped photo, and one named contact for that line.
• Nobody has to sit up all night watching an arm.

Success here is a safe removal by someone who is trained to do it — not a home removal. If you end up at the emergency department instead of a home visit, that is still the goal met.

A one-page print version of this — call script, avoid list, red flags, decision tree — is here: iv-line-tonight-onepager-bc75ed29.pdf

One thing would sharpen tonight's steps: is this a small cannula in the hand or arm, or a longer central line (PICC/port) going into the big vein in the chest — and does the discharge paperwork give the date it was placed?