Which Leg Was It?

Posted on 05 October 2010

The NHS has invested heavily in systems to minimise the problems associated with Serious Hazard of Transfusion (SHOT) and administering incorrect doses or drugs to patients through the use of barcodes.

How do I know this? Last week my 84-year-old father broke his hip in a fall at home and has been admitted to hospital. On admission, a plastic wristband was printed with both a PDF-417 two-dimensional and a Code39 linear barcode. The hospital and staff have been fantastic, they operated within 24 hours and the aftercare has been faultless.

The PDF-417 barcode can contain up to 2,000 characters of information. It could include his name, address, details of any allergies and of his current condition. The Code39, or more accurately Code 3 of 9 barcode, merely contains a unique reference number relating to the record of his admission.

Using portable, hand-held computers or PDAs, hopefully with antimicrobial housings, the nursing staff can administer the correct dose of drugs to the correctly identified patient by

reading the patients wristband barcode and the barcode on the drug container. The hand-held can then access the hospital database through the wireless network, look up the electronic patient record and make sure the drug being administered won’t trigger an allergic reaction and isn’t an overdose, given the patients age and weight.

It is very satisfying to see the technology I’ve been involved with for the last 25 years helping to protect my loved ones. It’s also great to see that the hospital is using more conventional ways of ensuring the surgeons operate on the correct/broken hip.

Purely by coincidence my youngest daughter is in the same hospital about to give birth to my second grandson, I can’t wait to meet him and see what barcodes have been applied to the latest addition to my family.