Tag: Melissa Langhan

3 Keys to Safer Pediatric Sedation

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) recently released “Guidelines for Monitoring and Management of Pediatric Patients Before, During, and After Sedation for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures: Update 2016”.

There are three keys to this update which offers “pediatric providers updated information and guidance in delivering safe sedation to children”: Continue reading “3 Keys to Safer Pediatric Sedation”

Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety and Health Care (August 21, 2015)

Two lessons learned for this week’s must reads in patient safety and health care – (1) Monitor with Capnography to Improve Patient Safety and (2) Planning Helps Manage the Health Care Risk in Obese Pregnant Mothers. Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety and Health Care (August 21, 2015)”

Case Studies in Improving Patient Safety and Health Outcomes Through Capnography

Dr. Melissa Langhan (Emergency Medicine, Yale School of Medicine) discusses case studies to improve patient safety through capnography.

Recent deaths – comedian Joan Rivers and 17-year-old Sydney Galleger – are a reminder of the need to ensure patient safety during common medical procedures.

“When medical tragedies occur, one of the very first questions asked by patients, families, the legal system, the press, and the public is: ‘were appropriate care standards met?’,” said Michael Wong, JD (Executive Director of the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety). Continue reading “Case Studies in Improving Patient Safety and Health Outcomes Through Capnography”

Children at Heightened Risk of Respiratory Compromise

by Michael Wong, JD (Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)

According to the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, many different types of procedures may require a patient who is a child to stay still or may cause them discomfort if no anesthesia is used. For example, procedures such as MRI scans require the child to be completely still to ensure adequate quality of the scans. This is an addition to anesthesia used in surgery and common procedures, such as for fracture reduction, laceration repair, and incision and drainage of an abscess.

However, despite the widespread use of anesthesia in children, Gaspard Montandon, PhD (Parker B. Francis Fellow, Department of Physiology and Medicine, University of Toronto) says: Continue reading “Children at Heightened Risk of Respiratory Compromise”