Heart Catherization Alert

* Note: Taken from Health Sciences e-Alert - Jenny Thompson - 9/3/15

Dear Reader:

It may be the single deadliest department in your local hospital — and it’s the place where you’re supposed to get the best treatment!

Any time you’re admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), you’d want to believe that the level of care would be, you know, intensive. You expect highly qualified doctors doing everything they can to make sure your condition doesn’t get worse.

But an appalling new study proves that if you get a common ICU procedure known as an arterial catheterization, there’s an 85 percent chance your doctor is going to do it wrong.

And if you’re not careful, he could be setting you up for a serious infection that could kill you in a matter of days.

Big holes in the barrier

Hospital infections kill more Americans each year than breast cancer.

That alone is a pretty sobering statistic.

And with more patients than ever catching MRSA and C. diff infections at hospitals, you’d think that doctors and nurses would do everything they can to keep you from getting sick.

But it looks like that’s not the case. Especially when it comes to arterial catheterizations.

Arterial catheters are a thin tube inserted into critically ill patients — or people undergoing surgery — to track blood pressure, oxygen and carbon dioxide.

The risk of infections from catheterization is so serious — especially among people who are very sick — that years ago the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a guideline calling for “full barrier precautions” whenever a doctor or nurse performs the procedure.

That means sterile gloves, a surgical mask, surgical cap, and a sterile drape.

That all sounds pretty doable, right? But researchers from the Rhode Island Hospital found that ICU units from coast to coast are completely ignoring the procedures and are failing to keep you safe.

In fact, researchers surveyed 1,200 critical care clinicians at ICUs and found that just a measly 15 percent are using the recommended precautions to prevent infections.

Fifteen percent! You’ve got to be kidding me! You’d get better odds in Vegas.

Dr. Leonard Mermel, who led the study, said countless patients are being put at risk every single day for longer hospital stays and even death.

And stopping the problem isn’t easy. Because, let’s face it, most of us don’t plan ahead for a stint in the ICU.

But if a family member or anyone you care for should land in one, it’s essential that you talk to the attending physician and head nurse and ask what procedures they follow for arterial catheters.

After all, I’m sure none of them would settle for anything less than such full barrier precautions for their own loved ones.

And here’s one sure way to really get a doctor’s or nurse’s attention. If an arterial catheter is required, ask if they’ll be using an antibacterial securement dressing. They’ll immediately realize that you mean business.

These are transparent patches that hold the catheter in place and actually kill bacteria. It’s a relatively new technology — but by now, there’s no excuse for your hospital not to have it.

And such ounces of prevention could well make the difference between life and death — especially when you’re in a hospital and some of the deadliest bacteria in the world are waiting in the wings.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Sources:
“Guidelines for preventing catheter infections in ICU often ignored: Study” HealthDay News, August 28, 2015, consumer.healthday.com