Dichroic Reflections

goofs and procedures

Son... of... a...BITCH!!

I've just realized that on the Friday and Saturday of JournalCon I'm signed up to take a class and then a test for a work-related certification. Getting said cert is supposed to be one of my goals for this year, and it's not given again until March. I've known about both of these dates for months, so I am an idiot for not realizing this sooner.

I'm investigating alternatives and options.

As it happens, this is the last time this particular certification will be given; next time around, the cert will be changed in a direction that actually matches one currently being emphasized in my company. I could change when I'm taking it, for a fee (that my sort-of boss has said the company would pay, though I think it's only fair for me to pay it in this instance). On the other hand, I signed up for this late (as stated, I am an idiot) and had to ask for special favors, so I hate to reschedule now. Also, it's a certification I don't much care about and am getting only because the boss said to.And it is supposed to be one of my goals for this year, as I wrote, but then again, the reorg has changed so many things that several of my goals are no longer valid.

There are a lot of 'then, agains' in this dilemma. I miss having Rudder around to talk stuff over with - this, and the issue of when I go for my IFR checkride. I've never been one to have a lot of close friends, and he's really the only one who knows all the background, plusses and minuses on both issues.

Speaking of job matters, something I heard on the Katrina-related news this morning hit me right where I work. Apparently, after the hurricane, the airport terminal in NOLA was used as an emergency medical clinic. The doctors there have had problems getting the supplies they needed, from drugs to catheters; apparently FEMA brought them in from elsewhere, but not their supplies (not for several days) and it was requiring properly filled-out forms for supply requests.

Not only does forcing people to fill out long forms in a disaster zone seem like a bad idea, but those physicians didn't have a fax machine handy to send the forms over to Baton Rouge. (Hello? Disaster zone?) The thing that really griped me, though, was a comment from a FEMA official:

"Those doctors are used to working in big emergency rooms, where when they want something, they just ask for it. They need to realize that this is the government they're dealing with, and we have procedures we need to follow."

Grrrrr. Grrrr on many levels.

This is what I do for a living. I read, write, explain, help implement, and improve procedures in an industry where faulty products can lead to major damage and even loss of life. If you get past all the regulations, standards, and requirements to their actual intent, this is what our procedures are for: they are there to make sure no equipment is damaged, no airplane crashes and most importantly no person is killed or injured because of any steps missed or corners cut in this company. That is why my job matters.

That FEMA quote is talking about the worst thing that could possibly happen in my field: lives put at risk, maybe even lost, because of bad procedures.

He's showing a fair bit of ignorance: hospitals certainly do have procedures. They are designed and streamlined so that no time is wasted in the emergency room, but someone has to make sure that the requisite objects are in place and organized to be ready when called for, and I'd bet it's done in a fairly standard way. Hospitals have a supply chain like any other business, and someone has to track drugs and supplies to know when to order more.

Done right, procedures can help things move along more quickly and enable a less-experienced person to do things right the first time, by following steps written by someone who knows what they're doing. Done wrong, they are called "red tape" and other less flattering things, and get in the way of doing the job - in this case, maybe fatally.

Procedures can be written to take emergencies into account, and I'd think FEMA, of all organizations, would have figured that out. An example in this case might have read something like, "Medical supplies must be requisitioned with the following form, which should be faxed to the XXX Adminstrator at XXX-XXX-XXXX. In cases of emergency, however, the prescribing physician may present a list of the drugs required, with signature and MD license number (or whatever doctors have). This must be supplemented by a full explanation on form YYY within 60 days from the time such supplies are issued."

See? Easy. Leave an out, but require someone in authority to take responsibility for taking that out, delineate the circumstances under which it can be used, and get it documented properly later, when the emergency is over, so you can keep track and so you have something to learn from for the next time.

Posted by dichroic at September 14, 2005 02:02 PM