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I just heard through my FOD support group that a 22 year old woman with a clear diagnosis and a letter of medical protocol in case of emergency died this summer in a Texas emergency room because the doctors did not follow her letter of protocol.
Guess what the main protocol is for a FOD'er who shows up in an emergency room- immediately start an I.V. of D-10.
Is D-10 a rare or controlled substance? Is is unusually expensive and not covered by insurance? Nope.
It's basically liquid sugar.
I'm not kidding, the D stands for dextrose- sugar.
The problem is that FODs are so rare that some doctors around the world who are used to treating diabetics take a blood sugar and think, "Hmmm blood sugars look o.k. to me what's the big deal? I think this protocol letter is annoying because it usurps my feelings of being omniscient and omnipotent. Who cares that it was written by a geneticist or neurologist that specializes in a disorder I personally know nothing about? I'm not going to be pushed around."
And then someone dies that did not have to. And the rest of us are a bit more scared to travel ANYWHERE away from our home hospitals.
So; if you are a doctor, if you dream of being a doctor- remember that you need to listen and be humble enough to keep learning. Always. Your patients will thank you and you will spare yourself the pain of having to live with the knowledge that your arrogance/stupidity killed someone.
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So does Arrogance.
I just heard through my FOD support group that a 22 year old woman with a clear diagnosis and a letter of medical protocol in case of emergency died this summer in a Texas emergency room because the doctors did not follow her letter of protocol.
Guess what the main protocol is for a FOD'er who shows up in an emergency room- immediately start an I.V. of D-10.
Is D-10 a rare or controlled substance? Is is unusually expensive and not covered by insurance? Nope.
It's basically liquid sugar.
I'm not kidding, the D stands for dextrose- sugar.
The problem is that FODs are so rare that some doctors around the world who are used to treating diabetics take a blood sugar and think, "Hmmm blood sugars look o.k. to me what's the big deal? I think this protocol letter is annoying because it usurps my feelings of being omniscient and omnipotent. Who cares that it was written by a geneticist or neurologist that specializes in a disorder I personally know nothing about? I'm not going to be pushed around."
And then someone dies that did not have to. And the rest of us are a bit more scared to travel ANYWHERE away from our home hospitals.
So; if you are a doctor, if you dream of being a doctor- remember that you need to listen and be humble enough to keep learning. Always. Your patients will thank you and you will spare yourself the pain of having to live with the knowledge that your arrogance/stupidity killed someone.
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2 comments:
Excellent!!
Though sometimes I think they're too arrogant or stupid to care about the results of their arrogance or stupidity...
I have a friend who needed a c-section birth as the baby was breech and there were other complications. She had no medical aid so she had to go to a government hospital. She did have a letter, but the midwife on duty told her, "Here WE decide what to do..." She forced my friend to deliver normally and the baby had brain damage as a result. A simple call to a obstetrician would have been all it took....
YEs. I don't understand the medical profession sometimes. I'm grateful for the doctors who are still teachable, and the ones who aren't...well...let's just say I'm learning to be assertive with people who have doctorates.
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