VOA慢速英语2010年-Health Report - Training Medical Teams

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

No one wants a pilot to make a mistake. This is why flight crews are trained in teamwork and communication. Now a study finds hospitals that trained their operating room teams had a lower rate of surgical¹ deaths than other hospitals.

SURGEON: "We'll need a patch in the room, is there a patch available?"

This team has been trained to communicate about the operation and the patient before, during and after the surgery.

SURGEON: "Are there any concerns or questions from the team? Anybody? No?"

The study involved more than one hundred American veterans hospitals. Some had taken part in a program of medical team training.

Researcher Julia Neily, a Veterans Administration nurse, says the training seeks to empower each team member, including technicians.

JULIA NEILY: "One of the key elements here was flattening² the hierarchy³ in the operating room so that everybody, the scrub tech, the nurse, the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, whomever it is in the operating room could bring up any concerns they had about the patient."

And the more training, the better the chances that a patient would survive.

Doctors at a VA hospital in Michigan operate after taking steps to communicate about the surgery and the patient

JULIA NEILY: "The group that had the training initially⁴ had a fifty percent greater reduction in their mortality rate and that was greater reduction than the control group, the group that didn't have the training initially."

Study co-author James Bagian is a Veterans Administration doctor.

JAMES BAGIAN: "Better communications by briefings and debriefings that are guided by checklists enhance teamwork."

DOCTOR: "Were there any difficulties or anything for anesthesia?"

ANESTHESIOLOGIST: "No."

The study is in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

At first, some team members questioned the value of the communication training. But another new study shows how a lack of communication can lead to mistakes like operating on the wrong site or the wrong patient.

Since two thousand four, hospitals and surgical offices in the United States have had a "universal protocol⁵." For example, they are supposed to mark the surgical site and perform a "time-out" immediately before the procedure.

The study looked at records of a company that provides liability insurance to six thousand doctors in Colorado.

The doctors reported twenty-five cases involving the wrong patient between January of two thousand two and June of two thousand eight. Five patients suffered serious harm.

Surgeons and other doctors also reported one hundred seven cases involving the wrong site. More than one-third led to serious harm. One patient died.

The researchers blamed most of the wrong-site cases on errors in judgment⁶ or a lack of a time-out. But they say errors in communication were at least one cause of all the patient mix-ups involving the wrong patient.

Philip Stahel at the Denver Health Medical Center led the study in the Archives of Surgery.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, available online at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.
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Includes reporting by Carol Pearson and Avi Arditti, and sound provided by the Journal of the American Medical Association
 

1 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

2 flattening   

n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词

参考例句：

• Flattening of the right atrial border is also seen in constrictive pericarditis. 右心房缘变平亦见于缩窄性心包炎。
• He busied his fingers with flattening the leaves of the book. 他手指忙着抚平书页。

3 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

4 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

5 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

6 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。