IV Access: There’s An App For That!

I first used a vein light close to 16 years ago. The hospital where I met The Ex had one, and a very handy device it was for finding veins deep below the skin's surface. I'm not sure if the current Veinlite folks are the same company, but I've used transillumination of the skin to find veins for years, and it works.

The technology has come a long way from that first primitive vein finder I used all those years ago, and the price has come way down. I keep telling myself I'm going to buy one, or perhaps wrangle one from the manufacturer in return for a review on my blog, but as often as I've run into them at conferences and trade shows, I get no love from the Veinlite people. They've given free samples to the guy standing next to me, and I've had several friends win them as door prizes, but thus my inner cheapskate has been denied its lust for a free sample.

However, the other day I swallowed the iKoolaid and upgraded from my pair of tin cans and string to an iPhone 4. I'm digging all the apps, and I've downloaded the usual EMS pocket guides and medical references, a couple of ballistics calculators and assorted other gee gaws.

But it was the flashlight app that struck me as particularly useful. Not only does it make carrying a penlight unnecessary (my tactical light is not something you'd want to shine directly in someone's eyes unless you're intent on doing them harm), but when held against the skin in a fairly dark room, it makes a dandy vein light. I just dim the module lights in the back of the rig, hold the phone against the skin, and the veins show up like a little blue roadmap.

Give it a try yourselves, and see how it works.

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