Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Memo to surgeons: Please use ashtrays at all times

As if all the usual things you have to worry about when you have surgery -- too much anesthesia, doctor falling asleep, retractors left behind in your chest cavity -- wasn't enough, now we apparently have to worry about catching on fire.

I'm sure there's a very logical explanation: People catching fire during surgery probably happens all the time, just like abductions by space aliens and spontaneous human combustion. Meanwhile, it's reassuring to note that in this case, while the patient died, "that was due to heart failure and not the fire, said Dr. Robert Caplan, medical quality director of Virginia Mason."

This would explain the hospital's new motto, "Virginia Mason: Where Patients Die From Heart Failure, Not Fires."

No comments: