X-Message-Number: 19305 From: "John de Rivaz" <> Subject: Resident Work Restrictions Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 11:09:13 +0100 The hours of work for hospital personnel is a relevant issue for cryonics because it is known that long hours without sleep lead to errors. If errors are made and someone dies, then lawyers are going to demand that the deceased be dissected in order to determine the cause of death (even if it is pretty obvious from cursory examination.) The fact that pilots and drivers cannot work for more than a restricted period far less than 24 hours makes the point, I feel. Also, it is very much easier to train as a professional driver than to train as a surgeon, anaesthetist, nurse etc. Could a driver work for 24 hrs if trained for 5 years? I doubt it very much. The article below suggests that shorter hours will lead to higher costs, but surely shorter hours means that duties should be performed more efficiently and fewer errors mean less money lost in lawsuits. If it costs less to employ one person for 24 hours than to employ three people for eight hours each then the errors aren't with working practises, but with laws concerning employment. After all, it is one of the first "problems" that young children are given in arithmetic - if it takes one man 24 hours to dig a trench, how long would it take three men? If politicians and lawyers can't get it right, then someone else ought to rule the country! From Infobeat >>> Hospitals Say Resident Work Restrictions Will Hurt New limits on the numbers of hours medical residents-in-training can be allowed to work that were announced this week may backfire by substantially increasing costs, reports the New York Times. The rules, announced by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which accredits major teaching hospitals, will go into effect in July, 2003, and limit the average work week for residents to 80 hours and prohibit shifts of longer than 24 hours. The rules were designed to prevent overworked residents from making errors in caring for patients. But some hospitals say the restrictions will force them to hire professionals at much higher pay to perform some of the tasks normally assigned to residents. Dr. Peter Herbert, the chief of staff for Yale-New Haven Hospital, a teaching affiliate of the Yale School of Medicine, told the Times he estimates that the cost for some hospitals could run into the millions of dollars. "For academic medical centers, the impact is going to be profound," he said. <<< -- Sincerely, John de Rivaz: http://www.deRivaz.com : http://www.AlecHarleyReeves.com http://www.longevity-report.com : http://www.autopsychoice.com : http://www.cryonics-europe.org http://www.porthtowan.com Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=19305