Question: What is the difference between serious and critical when they talk about a patient’s hospital status?
Answer: Critical condition is worse. It means that a patient’s vital signs are both abnormal and unstable and that indicators for recovery are unfavorable, according to the American Hospital Association.
The AHA, which includes Hawaii hospitals as members, recommends that all health care providers use standard terminology to describe a patient’s condition to the media, when such disclosure is allowed under privacy laws. Here are the AHA’s standard terms and definitions:
>> Undetermined: Patient awaiting physician and assessment.
>> Good: Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious and comfortable. Indicators for recovery are excellent.
>> Fair: Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious but might be uncomfortable. Indicators are favorable.
>> Serious: Vitals signs might be unstable and not within normal limits. Patient is acutely ill. Indicators are questionable.
>> Critical: Vital signs are unstable and not within normal limits. Patient might be unconscious. Indicators are unfavorable.
>> Treated and released: Patient received treatment but was not admitted.
>> Treated and transferred: Received treatment and was transferred to a different facility.
In Hawaii the AHA is affiliated with the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, a professional organization that includes all of the acute-care hospitals in the state as members, as well as other types of health care facilities.
Honolulu’s Department of Emergency Medical Services, whose first responders transport ill or injured people to the hospital by ambulance, also follows the same standard terminology in describing a patient’s condition, said Shayne Enright, a spokeswoman for the department.
Patients’ conditions change, obviously; a car-crash victim who is transported to the hospital in critical condition, for example, might stabilize with emergency treatment and quickly be upgraded to serious.
Q: I want to get information about military training or whatever causes noise in the area. I am staying near Wahiawa. How do I find out?
A: The Army produces a monthly schedule of ground-training activities that alerts neighbors of noise that could reverberate outside Schofield Barracks, a military installation near you. To receive the advisories directly, email usaghi.comrel@gmail.com with “Subscribe Training” in the subject line. Please note that the schedule is subject to change and includes ground training only, not Army aviation activities.
Several noisy ground exercises were scheduled at Schofield during May and into June, according to the notice issued in late April. Marine Corps artillery training was scheduled for May 2-6, and Army artillery and mortar training was scheduled for May 7-14 and May 29-June 17, according to the notice.
Such exercises pose no danger to the surrounding community, but they do ensure that military personnel based in Hawaii are properly trained and able to fulfill their military missions, according to the notice, which thanked Hawaii residents for their general support and understanding about noise.
That said, some complaints are expected. To report concerns about noise or training at Schofield Barracks, leave a detailed message on the U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii Noise Concern Line at 656-3487 or send email to usaghi.comrel@gmail.com.
Mahalo
We many times read of those who are unhappy with the care they are getting from our health care providers here in Hawaii. I would like to commend the doctors who certainly went the extra mile to give my husband, Capt. Jim Hickerson, the best of care and diagnosis at our own Tripler Army Medical Center. With acute pain in his knee, we, in just a few hours, saw Drs. Kerns, Roberts and Yim to correctly diagnose his problem and give him the help he needed. Our thanks to each one of them, Jackie, Chico and the rest of the entire staff at Tripler! They all were the greatest! — Mahalo, Carole Hickerson
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