When I was young I thought flying was great fun. Then, for some reason, when I was firmly in middle age, I didn’t like it anymore. In fact, I was afraid to fly. What finally cured me of this fear wasn’t drug therapy, hypnosis or counseling. No. It was sitting in the back of a van on the way to the airport. My brother-in-law was driving and passing everyone else on the road. We had to be doing at least 80mph. Then he received a text. Not only did he read it, he felt compelled to text back. As the van was swerving to and fro I realized flying had to be much safer than this. From that moment on, I wasn’t afraid to fly anymore. Riding with my brother-in-law? Well, that’s a different story.
So what does that tale have to do with the subject at hand? Plenty. The advent of electronic medical records has brought about new accessories for today’s doctors…the smartphone and the tablet. The idea was to give physicians up to the minute patient information and give them the ability to take notes on the fly. Patient records could be viewed so that present prescriptions and previous illnesses could be taken into account when delivering care. Surely, this would reduce or maybe even eliminate the 250,000 hospital deaths caused by medical errors every year. Sounds like a good idea, right?
Unfortunately, physicians are people, not gods. And just like everyone else, when a phone rings or a text dings there is a strong inclination to answer it. And that’s just what’s happening. Take a casual stroll on a hospital floor and you’ll see doctors and nurses glued to cell phones and ipads. Are they all working? Well yes, if you consider updating your Facebook status work.
The peer reviewed journal Perfusion recently published an article on the subject. In a poll of 439 medical technicians 55 percent admitted to talking on the phone while monitoring a bypass machine. Half admitted to texting during the surgery. If you’re undergoing open heart surgery that might be a concern to you. But, don’t worry. You’ll never know about it since you won’t be awake. And no one will tell you when you wake up. If you wake up. And it’s not just techs that are taking advantage of all that broadband has to offer. Other chilling examples of this behavior include a neurosurgeon taking personal calls and a nurse checking airfares online during surgery.
Perhaps even more alarming are the attitudes regarding this “electronic distraction”. In the same poll 40 percent of technicians said that talking on the phone during surgery was “always an unsafe practice” with 50 percent saying the same thing about texting. Maybe the other 50-60% shouldn’t be working in an operating room. The study’s authors concluded, “Such distractions have the potential to be disastrous.” Yeah, no kidding.
This adds up to one more reason to take exceptional care of that body of yours. That means keeping your weight under control. Eating foods that support health. Exercising regularly and getting adjusted to keep your joints and nervous system in top form. And if you do end up going under the knife let’s hope your surgical team is focused on you, not the high score on Angry Birds.
