--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "shempmcgurk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "ruthsimplicity"
> <ruthsimplicity@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "shempmcgurk" <shempmcgurk@>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I know someone who went in for a routine operation and got a
> staph
> > > infection which almost killed him.
> > >
> > > Final cost? $1.3 million.
> >
> > Certainly possible. Research from a few years ago indicates that
> the
> > average cost of a hospital incurred staff infection was between
> > $30,000 and $40,000.
> >
> > Far too many people die of infections incurred while hospitalized.
> > New emphasis on sanitary practices such as washing hands is helping.
>
>
> There was a great article in the New Yorker a few weeks ago that
> indicated that just the use of a checklist in ICUs saved a lot of
> lives and a lot of money.
>
A great article, and in today's New York Times the same author reported that a
government agency has just shut down all these incredibly effective programs
that use
the new checklists!! It is considered "research" and therefore requires prior
patient
permission, which is hard to get in an emergency where seconds can count, and
also costs
money. So the whole thing is out, kaput. Amazing. Apparently medical
procedures and
treatment is now so complex that the only way to get good, clean, through
treatment that
follows all the proper, basic guidelines is to have checklists for each person
or team to
follow. Cutting little corners (like not putting on a sterile gown prior to
inserting a large
intravenous tube) is where many of the problems arise.
