IN: 16 students given insulin shot instead of TB test

[Leadeye]

Local news keeps running the story right next to the one about decriminalizing small amounts of mj. People take a pot break for lunch and start making simple mistakes. I know this happens because I've had to deal with it my last place of employment.

 

[shootersix]

hope the nurses malpractice insurance was paid up!

looks like 16 kids will be driving new cars to school from now on!

 

[Alamo]

...Given the information we have, the person in question didn't actually read the label even one time.

Or the person read the label and saw what was expected, not what was actually there.

Which is why...

...actually reading and comprehending the information on the vial was an equally vital act.

The heparin example is why people get excited about these things. A small squirt of insulin may not be a big deal by itself, but who knows which vial will be grabbed next time. Heck, maybe next time after a long shift the nurse might walk into the wrong apartment and find an "intruder"...

 

[HoughMade]

hope the nurses malpractice insurance was paid up!

looks like 16 kids will be driving new cars to school from now on!

Geez, I hope they're not still in high school in 5 years.

...and what kind of new car can you get for about $2,500?

 

[JettaKnight]

rhino is having a hard time believing this could happen "by accident."

Accident / negligence. It happens. Sometimes a firing follows.


Are you trying to imply it was malice?

 

[HoughMade]

Accident / negligence. It happens. Sometimes a firing follows.

Are you trying to imply it was malice?

I've seen a lot of crazy things happen by accident.

If I had to guess, the mistake was made when gathering the supplies to take to the school and then the vial(s) were never looked at again when there. Maybe the vials were next to each other. You see the one you need, you look down for a second or get distracted by...anything...and then accidentally grab the vial next to the one you were looking at and never look at the label again because you only brought one vial.

Certainly there was negligence- clear cut, but damages? Assuming the health system and/or school picks up the tap for the care immediately after the incident, none really, but I expect that a little coin will be tossed the students' way. Maybe even something like $500, maybe less. $2,500 was me being extravagant.

 

[rosejm]

Again, the delivery device has nothing to do what’s in the syringe. Those are also heroin syringes. Someone just grabbed the wrong vial to fill them with

Sure, I get that when they're both syringes.
My assumption was that TB test =/= injection w/ syringe

 

[JettaKnight]

I've seen a lot of crazy things happen by accident.

If I had to guess, the mistake was made when gathering the supplies to take to the school and then the vial(s) were never looked at again when there. Maybe the vials were next to each other. You see the one you need, you look down for a second or get distracted by...anything...and then accidentally grab the vial next to the one you were looking at and never look at the label again because you only brought one vial.

Certainly there was negligence- clear cut, but damages? Assuming the health system and/or school picks up the tap for the care immediately after the incident, none really, but I expect that a little coin will be tossed the students' way. Maybe even something like $500, maybe less. $2,500 was me being extravagant.

Free hat - "I got insulin by mistake and all I got was this lousy hat."

 

[eldirector]

For me, reinforces that schools should stick to schooling, and someone else (maybe a medical professional?) should stick to ...uh... sticking.

Between free meals, healthcare, babysitting, and sports, I am surprised schools have any time left for math.

 

[HoughMade]

For me, reinforces that schools should stick to schooling, and someone else (maybe a medical professional?) should stick to ...uh... sticking.

Between free meals, healthcare, babysitting, and sports, I am surprised schools have any time left for math.

Community Health Network was providing the shots:

The insulin shots were administered during the tuberculosis test with medical personnel from the Community Health Network.

 

[Ziggidy]

the syringe doesn’t Matter, they’re not pre filled.

They might have been pre-filled by the RN. When we received the test, they did the entire hospital in a few days. In preparation, they would pre-fill the syringes and then, one by one, administer the test.

I would believe that is most likely how it happened. If I have to draw up a solution 16 times, I would think one would have noticed - I would think.

 

[Thor]

I remember the four-prong test. In the Air Force, I was able to dodge the annual flu shot for three years. I was at the hospital for a flight physical and Nurse Fox checked my shot record. She was annoyed that I did not have the flu shots. She gave me the TB test by sticking it in my arm and twisting it 360 degrees.

In the Army in Germany we were doing a base inoculation for something. There were several lines running through the gym. The one I was in had the medical comedian. He was dancing around, laughing and throwing the syringe like a dart into folks arms and then sticking it in the rest of the way to the distress of the recipients. When my time came I looked at him and said "If I feel pain you will die." He looked hurt and said, "man, ain't no reason to be like that", but even so he was very careful from that point forward...my eyes never leaving his now nervous face. As he finished I said, "today you get to live." I moved on and the guy behind me said..."If I fell pain you will die"...

 

[shootersix]

Geez, I hope they're not still in high school in 5 years.

...and what kind of new car can you get for about $2,500?

wait till some ambulance chasing bottom dwelling scum sucking leech of a lawyer gets involved!!!!

 

[HoughMade]

wait till some ambulance chasing bottom dwelling scum sucking leech of a lawyer gets involved!!!!

You're probably right. What would I know about the way medical malpractice lawsuits work in Indiana?

 

[rhino]

Public Service Announcement

This topic illustrates why rhino has a non-negotiable injection policy, which has been in place since he was in junior high school.

If rhino is getting a shot, he requires that:

1. rhino is allowed to read the label himself, and
2. rhino witnesses the person drawing the contents into the syringe immediately prior to the injection.

Non-compliance = no shot.

I was taught to do this by my parents (MD and RN). Only once in over 40 years has it met with resistance. I was in line to get a flu shot at Ivy Tech from some mobile nursing company contracted by the school to sell the vaccinations to faculty. When I got the head of the line, the nurse had filled over a dozen syringes and the vial was no longer present (these were not pre-packaged, single dose units). I stopped her when she tried to grab the next syringe to use on me, telling her (politely) that I need to read the label on the vial and then see her fill the syringe she would use on me. She went ballistic, claiming that I was trying to tell her how to do her job and how dare I question her in any way. I remained calm and waited for her to become calm enough, then asked again. She was still angry, but she got a new vial, a new syringe still in the package, and complied. No one else has ever batted an eye at my request. Some have even commended me for my vigilance, telling me that they did the same thing or that they would start.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Local news keeps running the story right next to the one about decriminalizing small amounts of mj. People take a pot break for lunch and start making simple mistakes. I know this happens because I've had to deal with it my last place of employment.

It's all fun and games until the supervisors get bored and start "experimenting ".

 

[hoosierdoc]

They might have been pre-filled by the RN. When we received the test, they did the entire hospital in a few days. In preparation, they would pre-fill the syringes and then, one by one, administer the test.

I would believe that is most likely how it happened. If I have to draw up a solution 16 times, I would think one would have noticed - I would think.

Sure, but it’s not a “TB syringe looks like an insulin syringe so that’s why the mistake happened”

 

[Ziggidy]

Sure, but it’s not a “TB syringe looks like an insulin syringe so that’s why the mistake happened”

Point taken....

 

[halfmileharry]

Them lawyers, ya gots ta keeps yer eyes on 'em

Yea, but they do come in handy at times.