Promoting patient safety and improving the quality of patient care
Tag: Amanda Abbiehl
By Timothy L.V. Wong (college intern with A Promise to Amanda Foundation, a non-profit working to ensure – “Monitor ALL PCA patients using Capnography – It Saves Lives”)
Patient Controlled Analgesia is the most common and effective form of pain treatment because it offers consistent and continuous pain relief. However, faults in current PCA technology are putting patients at risk everyday. Continue reading “The Path to a Safer PCA Pump: Improving Patient Safety with Integrated Capnography”
Retired Michigan State Police Officer, Matt Whitman, tells his story of how his life was miraculously saved by a nurse and why hospitals need a monitoring technological safety net to not rely upon miraculous interventions.
by Matt Whitman (Retired Michigan State Police Officer, Law Enforcement Teacher, Van Buren Technology Center)
Amanda Abbiehl and I share a similar story. Both of us were on patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps to manage our pain.
However, the difference is that, by the grace of God, an observant nurse who just happened to walk by my room when I stopped breathing, called a “Code Blue”, and that ultimately saved my life. I would have been just another statistic if it wasn’t for that nurse. Unfortunately, Amanda was not so lucky. Continue reading “State Trooper’s Life Saved by Nurse: Why Hospitals Need a Monitoring Technological Safety Net”
by Michael Wong
18-year old Amanda Abbiehl tragically died in 2010 at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center (SJRMC).
The cause — a PCA (patient-controlled analgesia) pump error. Continue reading “Notre Dame class project: improving patient safety through monitoring”