Full Table of Contents
_______________
Abbreviated
Table of Contents
Home Page
Patient Safety
Silence vs
Safety
Silenced
White wall
of Silence
Silencing
Conflict Of
Interest
Psychology of
Providers
Subjectivity
Blacklisting
Nurse survey
Loyalty
Mobbing and
bullying
Trust Us
Defensive
documenting
Report Rate
Risk
managemnt
SOAP
Management
Hospitals
Crime in
medicine
Sexual Abuse
Liability
Limitations
Free Speech
for Patients
Exploitation
OSMB Medical
Boards
Mammography
solutions
Medical errors
Medical
Complaints
One number
Links
Injured patients who want to help and be heard, click here.
Thomas Jefferson said that given the choice between government without newspapers and newspapers without government, he would choose to have newspapers.
In medicine we have government without newspapers. Patients cannot find out what they need to know to make informed choices. No one in medicine records or reports the information patients need to know the most. So patients will have to.
Patient Safety Template
If it is difficult for you to do, let me know and I'll make it for you.
This page provides the artwork and instructions for making templates to use with stick chalk.
To put the patient safety symbol on a sidewalk, print out the template below, cut it out and then buy blue sidewalk chalk from a school supply. (Available online for a dollar from http://www.holcombscatalog.com/.)
The instructions for this template make a chalk outline two feet tall. That's about the smallest image that it is practical to draw on a sidewalk. Smaller and it becomes difficult to discern what it is.
Print out the templates below in landscape orientation on
legal sheets (8.5 x 14 inches). Your browser might not give you the option to do
that. Your browser might resize the images to fit on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. You
might need to download these templates into a graphics program like PhotoShop in
order to print them out the correct size.
Tape the three of them together and cut it out. A good option is to cover the black lines with 2" wide box tape to stiffen the working edge of the template. That makes it easier to use as well as more durable. Taping it first and then cutting through the tape is a good way to do that. That also can be done with opaque tape by putting the tape on the back of the template.
In the photo at left, you can see a sheen resulting from the
clear box tape that is the real substance of this template. I put additional
tape surrounding it to make it more durable. This one was folded in an envelope.
When removed it unfolded well enough to serve its purpose.
Click to enlarge
No one in medicine talks about how to reduce the rates of assault and rape and murder in medicine. They talk about how to protect themselves from the ensuing liabilities. Put this symbol on a sidewalk to remember their victims.
Back to A Symbol for Patient Safety
Please don't use spray paint or anything permanent on a sidewalk or other public place. If it is permanent, it is graffiti and is more likely to alienate than to persuade (and might be illegal). Christo left his mammoth exhibit of 7,500 Gates in Central Park in Manhattan for less than three weeks because it is special and poignant if it is rare and of short duration. Chalk outlines still on the ground after 3 months may work against us. It is important not to be obnoxious to our own constituency.