High risk medication alert – intravenous potassium chloride
Patients have died in hospitals both in Australia and overseas after being mistakenly injected with potassium chloride instead of normal saline. In an effort to reduce the risks associated with the use of intravenous potassium chloride, the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care has issued a high-risk medication alert for intravenous potassium chloride. This alert contains recommendations for prescribing, storage, preparation and administration of intravenous potassium chloride.