Tag: implicit bias in medicine

Clinical “noise” in medicine: it’s not what you think

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ❤️   Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky)

Noise is getting in the way of good medical practice and better patient outcomes, according to Dr. Kamran Abbasi, Editor-In-Chief of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in a recent column he called What is Clinical Noise? – and How to Silence It. But he wasn’t referring to annoying loud noises in our environment, but to unwanted distractions in medicine.
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 Dr. Abbasi illustrates that noise by picturing a dart board with darts sprayed all around the bullseye, distracting players from focusing on what matters to dart players: hitting the bullseye.  .

Continue reading “Clinical “noise” in medicine: it’s not what you think” →

Pre-hospital care: can paramedics influence your cardiac future?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

Helen A. (pictured here) is a longtime Heart Sisters reader from North Carolina. (My other regular readers may remember Helen’s heart patient story a few years ago in The Handlebar-Gripping Cardiac Symptom). Helen asked me recently if I’d ever written about the influence of paramedics on subsequent medical care. Here’s how she started her message:

“We called 911 because I was having heart attack symptoms, but by the time we arrived at the hospital, the paramedic had decided nothing really serious was going on, and he made me get out of the ambulance and walk into the Emergency Department.” 

Unfortunately for Helen, however, something “really serious” was in fact going on. Continue reading “Pre-hospital care: can paramedics influence your cardiac future?” →