Patient Safety

VANCOUVER – Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) is celebrating being its first site designated as a Using Blood Wisely hospital, an initiative of Choosing Wisely Canada and Canadian Blood Services. Awarded in August, the Using Blood Wisely designation symbolizes VGH’s commitment to red blood cell stewardship and the continuous pursuit of quality improvement. Read More

WATERLOO, Ont. – A national medical study using Cloud DX’s Connected Health™ platform, led by P.J. Devereaux and Michael McGillion (pictured) of the Population Health Research Institute, proves remote patient monitoring (RPM) improves patient outcomes. Results show post-surgical RPM provides greater detection and correction of drug errors, reduces patient pain, and could reduce hospital re-admissions and emergency room visits. Read More

VANCOUVER – Researchers at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia are working to reduce adverse drug events (ADEs), the harmful and unintended consequences of medication that send two million Canadians to visit emergency departments every year. They’ve created software called ActionADE to document ADES and communicate with pharmacies to help prevent re-dispensing drugs that have led to patient harm. Read More

CALGARY – To reduce deaths from drug overdoses, Alberta Health has unveiled a new app called the Digital Overdose Response System (DORS). The app will trigger a call from the STARS emergency centre if an individual becomes unresponsive to a timer – similar to B.C.’s Lifeguard app. Read More

MONTREAL – The Quebec coroner is investigating the death of Mireille Ndjomouo (pictured), who died this month at the Jewish General Hospital, where she was transferred after complaining about her care at Charles-Le Moyne Hospital in Longueuil. The 44-year-old Black woman posted a video on Facebook on March 7 pleading for help, saying that staff at the Longueuil hospital gave her penicillin even though she had told them she was allergic to it. Read More

LONDON, Ont. – Driven by the goal of advancing patient care through research in quality improvement and patient safety, the Department of Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry has established the Centre for Quality, Innovation and Safety (CQuInS). Read More

VANCOUVER – Lower Mainland Biomedical Engineering, which is part of the Provincial Health Services Authority, and Vancouver Coastal Health, were honoured in November 2020 for their joint effort to identify the root cause of over-infusions involving a commonly used brand of infusion pump. The investigative efforts and persistence of the team members improved patient safety not only within their area of responsibility, in BC, but worldwide, too. Read More

VANCOUVER – Medical equipment, such as blood pressure cuffs, have been identified as surfaces at risk of COVID-19 contamination in long-term care homes, according to a Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)-led study. VCH took immediate action when the preliminary findings came to light. Shared blood pressure cuffs and other medical equipment at the sites were replaced with either disposable cuffs or dedicated equipment that is not shared between patients. Read More

CHICAGO – Tripp Lite, a global manufacturer of power and connectivity solutions, offers medical-grade uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems to power mobile medical devices such as High Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO) therapy. HFNO therapy systems, used to manage respiratory failure, can pose risks for patients in transit if power is lost. Tripp Lite’s SmartPro^® SMART700HGL (120V) and SMX700HGL (230V) UPS systems are compliant with the machines to provide uninterrupted oxygen in transport. Read More

MONTREAL – AMD Medicom Inc., a leading manufacturer of surgical and respiratory masks, confirmed a long-term agreement with the Canadian Government to produce 20 million N95 respirator masks and 24 million surgical masks per year for the next 10 years, starting this summer. Read More