Originally published August 21 2005
Wristband could protect patients from prescription mistakes
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A Brunel University student has designed a bracelet containing to be worn in hospitals to prevent patients from getting the wrong medications; the wristband is programmed to recognize the packaging of a certain prescription and sends off an alert if the incorrect drug is placed on its scanning sensor.
When an incorrect drug is placed next to an electronic sensor embedded in the bracelet, it gives a visual warning.
The wristband has already been tested at St Anthony's private hospital in Surrey, with promising results.
Potentially, it could be rolled out to more hospitals in the future, although the prototype does need more work before this could be possible.
Medication errors are one of the most common medical mistakes and could play a part in hundreds of deaths each year, experts believe.
In England, five out of every 100 oral drug doses in hospitals go wrong, according to the Department of Health, although most errors do not cause harm.
The chip is programmed on the patient's arrival at the hospital with their details and drug requirements.
When a drug bottle or pack is placed on the wristband's sensor, this scanner checks the electronic tags built in to the medicine's packaging to make sure it is correct for the patient.
The wristband then informs the nurse if the correct drug has been selected by displaying this information on the wristband's screen.
Each time a dose is given, the date and time are logged in the chip contained inside the wristband.
The device was able to spot when the incorrect drugs were being selected by the nurse, and tell the nurse what dose should be prescribed via text on the display window.
"This would be a good reinforcement that the correct drug and dose had already been given to a patient and reduce the chance of overdosing in error."
The National Patient Safety Agency's joint chief executives, Sue Osborn and Susan Williams, said: "We are currently working on safer patient identification such as wristband identification and checking procedures.
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