Patient Safety Day 2008: Light a Candle, Turn on Your Headlights

When my mother-in-law acquired an infection while hospitalized last year, little did we know she would end up being a statistic. She died a few months later, never having shaken that infection.

When Helen Haskell's son, and Patty Skolnik's son, and Ilene Corina's baby died from surgical mistakes -- not challenges, but mistakes -- little did they know their children would be statistics.

When Jasmine Gant needed an antibiotic for a strep infection she acquired just after giving birth, she was given an IV of the wrong drug instead, and it killed her, leaving her baby with no mother. She, too, became a statistic.

Those statistics add up to almost 100,000 deaths of Americans each year, according to the Institute of Medicine. Millions more are harmed. Maybe you are one of them?

Tomorrow, July 25 is Patient Safety Day. It's a day to remember those who have been lost to medical errors, honor those who work to stop further errors, and remind us to be aware of the kinds of errors that occur, and how we can protect ourselves.

Turn on your headlights, light a candle, read more about patient safety, and pause for a moment to think about the lives that have been lost, the loved ones left behind, and the steps you can take to be sure you don't become a victim of a medical error.
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