ivWatch "Pain Should Not Be Silenced" Campaign

Last October, ivWatch launched a gallery exhibit entitled "Pain Should Not Be Silenced" in its booth at the Association for Vascular Access annual conference. The campaign was designed to move beyond the artifice of medical advertising and pay tribute to those who have suffered from severe IV extravasation (leakage) injuries usually hidden from the public. Today, clinicians, patients, and parents are courageous – they want to educate, empower, and have a voice to change these outcomes instead of turning a blind eye.

The suite of images in the gallery represents a view through the eyes of the clinician, a first-hand account of what is seen in the patient population globally and daily. The exhibit is designed to show the human realities and devastations of IV extravasation injuries, specifically in NICU settings. At a time when nursing staffing shortages are rife both in the U.S. and abroad, ivWatch commissioned these images to demonstrate the pain and suffering that can be caused when insufficient IV monitoring of IV occurs.

Created in partnership with a famous sports photographer who endured an IV extravasation as a NICU baby, the images pay homage to the incredible amount of suffering these tiny humans will fight their entire lives – not just physically, but mentally as well - as a result of injuries incurred at such a young age. Each neonate has a story to be told and their parents want to bring awareness to this crisis so no baby will experience these types of injuries ever again.

"Each of these tiny babies and their parents have a story to tell about these preventable injuries that cause so much pain and suffering. With these images, we set out to pay tribute, honor, and elevate the global IV extravasation crisis to where it belongs – above clinical standards, above job titles, above convention," said Erin Wendell, Chief Marketing Officer at ivWatch. "Our gallery is a reminder that these patients, their parents, and their clinicians need a voice raised to end the culture of silence in which these injuries are often minimized, ignored, or misdiagnosed."