SPEAKING AT YOUR ORGANIZATION ABOUT PATIENT STORIES

-Learn how stories can teach principles of patient safety

Medical errors cause thousands of deaths and harm each year. Enter the lives of people and families impacted by medical errors. Learn through the window of personal stories what happened to these families.

The book Fatal Care will take you on a journey, and introduce you to individuals and families living within the nameless, faceless error statistics. They are people like your relatives, neighbors and friends, and their stories are as varied as their lives. Each one is unique, and holds the drama, suspense and emotion that are part of life and death. But most importantly, each story has something to teach patients and healthcare professionals about how to avoid the pitfalls, or fatal points, along the course of care.

Critically Wounded- Hospital Acquired Infection

When Kim returned, the house was eerily quiet. Something was different. Usually Diana had the TV on for background noise, even when she was sleeping. Kim walked down the hall to Diana’s room to show her the picture. She approached the doorway and peered into the room, expecting to see the new dress draped over the chair by the door, but it was empty. As she pushed the door open there was Diana, still in the dress, lying on the bed motionless. Kim panicked, screaming and crying. She dialed 9-1-1, and then began CPR, all the while praying out loud through her tears, begging for Jesus to raise Diana from the dead like He did with Lazarus. But it was too late, and Kim knew she was gone.

Picking Up the Pieces - Medication Error

Twelve hours later Chris stumbled to the phone, attempting to stop the ringing before it woke everyone in the house. He was up late working on a paper for school. When he picked up, the hospital was on the other end, calling to tell them something had gone wrong. There had been some kind of incident; Diane received an overdose of morphine and had to be revived.

The drive to the hospital was a blur to Dan. He wasn’t sure how he even got there or what route he took. Once he had seen Diane, he began to ask questions about what had happened. The answers were confusing. Apparently, a student nurse walking by Diane’s room late that night had heard her making a strange, abnormal snoring sound, and found her unconscious. The code team was called immediately, but it took another 21 minutes to begin delivering oxygen to Diane’s lungs.

The Mission- Delay in Treatment

John McCormack held the 9 mm police-issue revolver in his right hand, as he sat in front of the grave at the cemetery. There were no other people around. It would be quick and easy, easier than living with the constant anguish and grief. What a relief to be free. A cold breeze came up, but John didn’t move to pull his jacket tighter around him. In fact, he didn’t even notice the chill. He reached out to touch the gravestone with his free hand, and with rough, work-worn fingers he traced the letters and numbers that were etched on it. Taylor Catherine McCormack, it read, August 23, 1999 – October 6, 2000.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered through his tears, his nose running from the crying and the cold. “I’m sorry I let you down. Daddy loves you, baby.” He wiped his nose and upper lip on the sleeve of his jacket. The wind chapped his wet face. He often came here in the months since Taylor’s death, but today he brought his pistol.

To arrange a talk about the book Fatal Care contact Karin Berntsen at preventingmedicalerrors@cox.net