By Jennifer Nitson
Gazette-Times reporter | Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 12:00 am
When a physician realizes an emergency Caesarean section is necessary, the time between that decision and the first incision needs to be as short as possible.
To increase safety for mothers and babies, engineering students at Oregon State University have developed a communication and information system that can aid health care workers to quickly and efficiently assemble a surgical team, prepare the mother and set up the operating room for a C-section.
This is an important development for rural hospitals, where surgical teams are not on hand 24 hours a day and operating rooms are not typically set up for emergency C-sections.
Working with health care professionals, including doctors and nurses from Peace Harbor Hospital in Florence, the students developed a system that will aid in consistently keeping that decision-to-incision time to 30 minutes or less.
Utilizing computer software and a network of wireless devices, including cell phones, personal data assistants, tablet PCs and display monitors, doctors and nurses can be summoned, operating room and surgical preparation checklists can be updated as tasks are completed and everyone involved in the process can see at a glance what has been done and what still needs to be addressed.
"A lot of it has to do with getting a surgical team, which may be home asleep, and getting them to the operating room in a timely manner," said OSU associate professor Ken Funk.
With Peace Harbor Hospital's current system, a ward clerk must individually call each of the five to eight team members who are on call. If one cannot be reached, the clerk must try to reach a replacement.
With the new system, which is still in the prototype stage, the clerk could summon all team members at the same time by sending a detailed message to their PDAs or phones. Each team member can then respond, indicating where he is and how fast he can make it to the operating room.
"With such tight time constraints, a few minutes of delay can be critical," Funk said.
Up to 100,000 Americans die in hospitals each year due to preventable medical errors.
Computerized checklists that healthcare workers can see and update during emergency procedures help reduce the chance for human error, Funk said.
"In preparing for an emergency C-section, if someone forgets something, it may result in a delay that may injure or kill a mother or child," he said.
Dr. James Bauer, an obstetrician at Peace Harbor Hospital, assisted with the development of the system, along with nurses and other health-care experts.
"We understand what optimal care is, but many times we cannot consistently deliver this," Bauer said.
With the new system "many mishaps and failures can be prevented," he said. "The information is readily displayed, the essential points are there, so that the whole health-care team can make decisions and execute care consistently."
Funk hopes to continue to test the system at Peace Harbor Hospital, after making improvements suggested by doctors and nurses, and is working to secure federal or private funding for the testing, he said.