As I struggle through the last bit of my annual tax returns, I’m struck by the euphemistic reference to inevitability, “only two things are certain, death and taxes.” At this very moment, I’m not sure that the two are that different (that is, if death is to be long and arduous). But I think we often make the assumption that everything we wish to avoid is somehow inevitable. Mom made us eat our spinach. Uncle Sam requires us to decipher byzantine rules. But we don’t have to accept MRI accidents as requisite and inevitable parts of providing MRI services.
Have you ever played a competitive sport against someone who was convinced from the beginning that you were going to beat them? The half-hearted volley… the slow-paced run-down… Yeah, they were going through all the right motions, just not so that they could convince themselves (or anyone else) that their heart was really in it. Why, because in their minds the result was a foregone conclusion and the game alone wasn’t worth the effort… you’d be amazed if you knew how much half-hearted effort there is regarding MRI safety simply because of the belief that accidents are, at some level, inevitable.
Death is inevitable. Taxes (or the federal penitentiary, as an alternative) are perhaps a close 2nd. MRI accidents, however, are wayyyyy down the list. In fact, I don’t accept that they’re inevitable at all.
Well, ok, I do accept that accidents are inevitable, but both the frequency and the seriousness of an MRI accident is almost completely within our control.
Staff training, rigorous screening, careful coordination with referring physicians, and yes, ferromagnetic detection pre-screening, can all make great strides in reducing MRI risk. These should be basic components of each and every MR providers’ safety portfolio.
Death… yes, inevitable. MRI accidents… well, I can’t claim to have the ability to forbid them, but I do have the ability to do all within my power to prevent them. My heart is in this, and I’m willing to give it another year’s fight and – like my taxes – another year after that…
Tobias Gilk, President & MRI Safety Director Mednovus, Inc. Tobias.Gilk@Mednovus.com www.MEDNOVUS.com
