Earlier this week, as I write this, our office lost a
skirmish against technology. It was my
procedure day, where lucky patients file in awaiting the pleasures of scope
examinations of their alimentary canals.
A few will swallow the scope (under anesthesia), but most will have back
end work done. We are a small private
practice equipped with an outstanding staff.
We do our best every day to provide them with the close personal
attention they deserve.
The first patient of the day is on the table surrounded by
the medical team. The nurse anesthetist
and I have already briefed the patient on what is about to transpire. Propofol, the finest drug in the universe, is
introduced into her circulatory system, and her mind drifts into another
galaxy. I pick up the colonoscope, which
is locked & loaded for action, and the screen goes dark. Our nurse goes through a few steps of messing
around with plugs and doing a quick reboot, but we are still in the dark. I glance at the back of the scope cart and have
an eye-popping moment when I see dozens of wires and connectors coursing off
the cart in a collage of chaos.
Ready, Willing, but not Able!
After 5 minutes, when it is clear that the Almighty has not
declared, Let There Be Light, we transport the patient into the recovery area
where she is awakened. Patients in the
recovery area never remember their procedure.
This time, there was no procedure to remember.
There was tension in our office as we contemplated our
options for colonoscopy patients who took the day off, arranged for a driver
and swallowed the required liquid dynamite to cleanse their bodies and
souls. We called the hospital who could
not accommodate on short notice request for multiple procedures. I was not willing to cancel anyone and told
my staff that I would stay until midnight to get the work done.
Our IT professional was in our office in 30 minutes. I think he was the youngest person in the
building. When your IT guy is sweating
and stumped, you know you’re in trouble.
So, here we were with an able gastroenterologist, a crack
staff, patients ready for probing, but we were paralyzed because a computer
monitor was in a coma. It’s a reminder
that we have all had of how totally dependent we are on our technology. Even at home when the modem goes out, we feel
that our oxygen supply has been compromised.
Interesting dilemma, I don't know how expensive your equipment is but, you mentioned a monitor was at fault. It would seem that a duplicate (back-up) set of instruments / equipment would help resolve this situation. The airlines have had multiple pieces of equipment that do the same job for years, for those pieces of equipment that protect the integrity of the plane and the well being of the passengers. Just a thought.
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