Checking your patient’s lifeline every time they are in for treatment is a critical step to making sure their access is functioning appropriately and or to detect potential problems. Attached is an interactive tool that will help you learn how to perform a quick access check and what to watch to determine if there is a problem. Please follow the “How to save your patient’s lifeline” link to learn more:
It Only Takes a Minute to Save the Lifeline
Using the links below, you can access the steps and tools for “one minute access check”. The process map and tools support the five components for the one minute access check that can be performed daily by the patients, the dialysis staff at each dialysis treatment and expert clinicians when problems are identified and also during monthly visits.
Printable Documents:
- Augmentation Printable Instructions: A one-page printable set of instructions for the augmentation check of the access.
- Vascular Access Atlas: A general guide for all types of vascular accesses. Included is information specifically for the full “One Minute Access Check.”
- Dr. Beathard’s “A Practitioner’s Resource Guide to Hemodialysis Arteriovenous Fistulas”: This article provides background information on the importance of the AVF physical exam
- Physical Diagnosis of the Vascular Access, Dr. Beathard
- Recursos Para Personales en Español/ Staff Spanish Language Resource Kit – Todos los materiales para el “Prueba de Accesso de Un Minuto” en Español para los personales de diálisis. All of the “One Minute Access Check” materials in Spanish
Video for the “One Minute Access Check”
Video that outlines the steps for the “One Minute Access Check”:
Full-Length Video for Checking Your Access
An 8 minute video with information for the steps in the “One Minute Access Check” and more information on vascular access:
Physical Examination of Arteriovenous Fistula
A 24 minute video showing a comprehensive examination of an arteriovenous fistula: