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Study Finds Medical Errors More Prevalent among Children Innovative...

According to a recent study in the New York Times, 's8220;Medication Errors Are Studied,'s8221; 12% of children undergoing surgery experience some sort of medication error. This error rate is significantly higher than the 5% risk associated with all adult patients. Medication errors often result from teamwork failures and miscommunications.



Recently in the Mid-west, two premature babies died after accidentally receiving an adult dose of blood thinner medication. The drug, heparin, typically leads to internal or external bleeding. Another report on FoxNews.com revealed that a third baby died just days later for the same reason. Other reports concluded that this was not the first time this hospital has administered an overdose of heparin.



To avoid these kinds of tragedies, some of the best and safest children's8217;s hospitals are turning to a proven aviation-based safety system known as Crew Resource Management (CRM). CRM has been used for over 20 years in the aviation industry to teach pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics the importance of team performance and communication skills to reduce error.



LifeWings, the country's8217;s largest provider of CRM-based systems in healthcare, is implementing the CRM system at Vanderbilt Children's8217;s Hospital (VCH) in Nashville, TN. VCH is one of 70 LifeWings clients, several of whom are children's8217;s hospitals.



's8220;The medical teams we work with are in many respects just like the flight crews we's8217;ve worked with in aviation. They provide incredibly good individual care. But unlike aviation, sometimes the system of care in hospitals makes it difficult to coordinate and collaborate their efforts,'s8221; says Captain Stephen Harden, President and Co-founder of LifeWings. 's8220;And because children can's8217;t crosscheck what their doctor or nurse is doing, it is critically important to have a proven safety system in place to provide this function for them.'s8221;



VCH is one of the best hospitals in the country and they are taking ground breaking steps to ensure their safety systems support the incredible care their physicians and nurses are giving. 's8220;It's8217;s the hospital where I would take my own children. I know they will get great and extremely safe care there,'s8221; adds Captain Harden.



About LifeWings Partners LLC

LifeWings Partners LLC was founded by a former U.S. Navy Top Gun instructor, a commercial airline pilot, and two physicians who are former NASA astronauts. The firm specializes in applying aviation-based teamwork training and safety tools to help healthcare facilities save patients's8217; lives and reduce costs. LifeWings has helped over 70 facilities nationwide provide better care to their patients.



Contact

Steve Harden, President

LifeWings Partners LLC

901.413.8598

9198 Crestwyn Hills Drive

Memphis, TN 38125

www.SaferPatients.com

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