I am pleased to report that the Atlanta area Kaiser Permanente "After Visit
Summary" always shows--although in brackets--the metric equivalents of
temperature, weight and height. I presume that the program into which they type
the information includes the conversion factors. Every patient gets a copy of
the Summary before leaving the appointment.
One could say this is a step forward even though I ask the nurse assistant to
push the digital kilogram button when she weighs me, she still uses the pounds
button for the display at the scale.
Norm Werling
Original Message
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 12:36
Subject: [USMA:40339] Re: Metric healthcare.
A couple of weeks ago I had a route doctor appointment. She asked my weight*.
(The nurse had not previously taken it.) I said, "106 kg, and I don't know it
in pounds." (The scale at home is set that way.) She accepted it without
question.
*OK, OK ... but that's what she asked for ...
Carleton
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Remek Kocz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Talking metric to patients about the sacrosanct personal dimensions is key.
If the medical community, for the sake of patient safety, agreed to
communicate in SI units we'd be in great shape.
On Feb 1, 2008 12:47 AM, Paul Trusten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
A hospital going fully metric must do so on a cultural basis. The
changeover has to be on the basis of total metric awareness. There is enough
"awareness" going on at my hospital already. For example, one nursing unit's
name was changed from "telemetry" to "progressive care" to more accurately
describe the type of care. So, everyone throughout the facility has had to
start using, or at least become familiar with, this new name. The same thing
must be done with measurement. Only kilogram scales and meter scales should be
used to weigh and measure patients, and only kilograms and meters should be
stated, either verbally or in writing, in the hospital. Patients should be made
familiar with their SI weight and height. All this might come to pass one day,
but someone is going to have to suffer or die before it happens.
Paul
Remek Kocz wrote:
Paul, I couldn't agree more. Someone will make a pounds/kg conversion
error on a drug with a narrow therapeutic index, and a patient will die.
And even if every hospital goes fully metric, you will still be up
against the primary care offices that for the most part do everything in
pounds, inches, and fluid ounces. The problem begins in medical school where
it's still a mixture of units. One culprit in particular that stands out is
one of the "bibles" of health care, Mosby's Guide to Physical Examination.
It's a comprehensive book that every doctor will come across, but it's just
chock full of bizarre decisions on units. Sometimes metric stands alone,
sometimes it's first, sometimes last, and sometimes absent. On an occasion,
the conversions from customary units to metric units are completely erroneous.
Metric in health care is ! a very broad subject. Much could be done,
but very little is happening. Maybe when I have some time, I'll write more
about it.
Remek
On Jan 31, 2008 10:58 PM, Paul Trusten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Over the years, a few people have asked me if a Mars Orbiter-type, or
Gimli-type, event could occur in U.S. healthcare. The answer is yes. It will
happen due to a confusion between pounds and kilograms of patient body
weight/mass. Such a sentinel event is required in order to make the all-metric
hospital culture into a JCAHO national patient safety goal. They won't take my
word for it.
Paul
Walter Meier wrote:
Thanks, Pat.
I've read several accounts of this event in the past, but as you
said, this one is truly the best. Hairraising, in fact. And this one does a far
better job of expalining what went wrong with the calculations. The real
problem lay with the fuel density calculations, not with the calibration of the
dripsticks, as the Avweb story reported. Still, it was the confusion caused by
the simultaneous use of two systems of measurement that nearly led to disaster,
and I'm sad to see that little has changed in the 25 years since.
Cheers,
Walter
On Jan 31, 2008 3:21 PM, Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dear Walter,
The best story that I have read on the Gimli Glider is that by
Wade H. Nelson at:
http://www.wadenelson.com/gimli.html
It is very well written.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern
metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save
thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses.
Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and
professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in
Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government,
Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA.
See http://www.metricationmatters.com/ for more metrication information,
contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or subscribe to the free 'Metrication matters'
newsletter at http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/
On 2008/02/01, at 3:25 AM, Walter Meier wrote:
Greetings all:
The NASA incident on Mars is the one most often remembered for
the danger of using multiple systems of measurement, but this one is also truly
remarkable. Today they're retiring an airplane that under most circumstances
would have been written off many years ago, so I thought it would be a good
occasion to remember the feat.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/1043-full.html#197052
Cheers,
Walter
--
Paul Trusten, R.Ph.
Acting Secretary
The Pharmacy Alliance
Midland TX 79707-2872 USA
+1(432)528-7724
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ThePharmacyAlliance
--
Paul Trusten, R.Ph.
Acting Secretary
The Pharmacy Alliance
Midland TX 79707-2872 USA
+1(432)528-7724
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ThePharmacyAlliance
