2 infants die after getting adult doses of drug

[julianne]

Yes, this is the way I interpreted his statement. I think he was trying to strongly reassure people that other patients were not at risk for this type of medication error. I was not offended by what he said.

That is what he should've said.

 

[southcitymom]

That is what he should've said.

In my mind, that is what he said.

 

[michelle]

This is so sad.When my son was in the nicu,everytime they gave him meds the policy is that another nurse checks to make sure it is correct.That was their policy.This hospital ought to consider doing the same.What a shame.

Thats what my hospital does.

 

[julianne]

In my mind, that is what he said.

I understand that is what he meant to say, and I don't for a minute think that he meant any harm or hurt feelings by his comments.

However, when one is in a position to make a public statement regarding a tragedy such as this, it is imperative that words are chosen very wisely when making the statement. That is the reason why many institutions have PR people--just for instances such as this.

The hospital I worked for had a whole TEAM of Public Relations personnel on call 24/7, in an event that media would be needing public comment on a situation. Administration never commented publicly and always deferred to PR for public comment.

Regardless, this is a tragic situation that could have been avoided had the hospital had the pertinent precautions in place. I am shocked that it appears they didn't have these precautions in place in this day and age--especially in a NICU!! When you are dealing with patients who weigh 1-3 pounds, who already have serious health issues, the fact that 1 nurse alone can administer meds w/o it being double-checked is an antiquated and obviously lethal way to operate a NICU. It has been proven time and time again that proper precautions prevent this type of tragedy.

 

[IndyLaw]

It looks like five different nurses administered the heparin and a pharmacy technician was responsible for loading the adult dose into the cabinet at the nurses' station.

This blurb from WISH-TV in Indianapolis says that at least two of the babies (presumably the ones who died) received more than one incorrect dose.

These two facts are what particularly disturbs me.

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5423978

 

[southcitymom]

I understand that is what he meant to say, and I don't for a minute think that he meant any harm or hurt feelings by his comments.

However, when one is in a position to make a public statement regarding a tragedy such as this, it is imperative that words are chosen very wisely when making the statement. That is the reason why many institutions have PR people--just for instances such as this.

The hospital I worked for had a whole TEAM of Public Relations personnel on call 24/7, in an event that media would be needing public comment on a situation. Administration never commented publicly and always deferred to PR for public comment.

Regardless, this is a tragic situation that could have been avoided had the hospital had the pertinent precautions in place. I am shocked that it appears they didn't have these precautions in place in this day and age--especially in a NICU!! When you are dealing with patients who weigh 1-3 pounds, who already have serious health issues, the fact that 1 nurse alone can administer meds w/o it being double-checked is an antiquated and obviously lethal way to operate a NICU. It has been proven time and time again that proper precautions prevent this type of tragedy.

It's true that MDs aren't known for their "way with words!"

 

[eve]

It's true that MDs aren't known for their "way with words!"

I think this is true, but wasn't this an administrator who should have been more savvy?

Eve

 

[LNL]

It looks like five different nurses administered the heparin and a pharmacy technician was responsible for loading the adult dose into the cabinet at the nurses' station.

This blurb from WISH-TV in Indianapolis says that at least two of the babies (presumably the ones who died) received more than one incorrect dose.

These two facts are what particularly disturbs me.

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5423978

What bothers me is that he doesn't seem to hold the individuals responsible even though they are supposed to check the dosage before administering the meds.

Well, I think 6 people should be strongly disciplined or fired because they clearly were not paying attention or following procedures already in place. Now they are just going to implement more procedures and apparently pretend this never happened.

 

[shdbepaintin]

A third baby has died . THis is so very sad.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060920/LOCAL/60920002