MADISON, WI – GomerBlog regrettable reports about another surgical patient bleeding to death at Community Hospital yesterday. 84-year-old Terrance Billingsworth tragically passed away in the operating room while undergoing an abdominal aneurysm repair.
“Blood started pouring out everywhere,” said surgeon Dr. Lars Mendleson. Anesthesiologist, Dr. Michael Bubbly, immediately called the blood bank for release of blood. “I was frantically telling the blood bank to emergently release the blood,” said Bubbly.
“The guy on the other end told me I needed to fill out 13 copies of form SF-124-23 in black ink and 8 copies of form SFX-5674 in pencil with date and time in MM/DD/YR format. Once that was completed, I needed to submit an electronic order in the computer stating that I wanted blood products released from the blood bank.”
Dr. Bubbly initially fought this request, but the blood bank technician refused to release the blood until the paperwork was complete. The technician mentioned a recent Joint Commission inspection where the blood bank was dinged for improper paperwork. Realizing the futility in arguing, he quickly filled out all the paperwork and submitted it to the blood bank.
Mr. Billingsworth’s bleeding proved too much for the team that day and Bubbly is furious. “I know that 20-minute delay in filling out paperwork contributed to this mess!” said Bubbly.
In a surprising twist, hospital administrators were not upset at the loss of a patient, but instead they were excited about Dr. Bubbly’s paperwork.
“Dr. Bubbly submitted over 21 forms and we are impressed,” said administrator Timothy Phillips. “All forms were flawless and had no errors. We haven’t seen anything like this before.”
An award was then presented to Dr. Bubbly for “maintaining extreme precision under duress” in completing all of the required paperwork error-free. They have asked Dr. Bubbly to present his work at their upcoming Joint Commission prep talk next week.
