 Thank you Michael Stillwater for sharing her wonderful talents with that beautiful tribute to those we've lost My name is Monica McDade, and I'm the campaign director for Unite for Safe Care Coming up. We want to share the stories of patients that have survived Surviving medical error should be joyful However, sometimes it is a cautionary tale of what you never want to have happened to anyone else in this space Let us celebrate those who have survived medical harm and see what these inspiring people have gone on to do Let's watch Alicia Cole's story Just as the nurse was about to put down the white padding that was over my incision my mother said wait a minute There's something on her stomach look like a mole and My mother asked the nurse to call the doctor to come back and she didn't want to she said I am not going to call the doctor for what's going to turn out to be nothing My mother said I'll call the doctor I'll never forget. I was looking at my doctor and I raised the gauze And I just saw his face completely changed and when I looked down at my abdomen The black dot was gone and there was a quarter-sized pustule The infection kept spreading and it was starting to go down my leg Over two million patients a year get hospital-acquired infections. I Ended up having six more surgeries nine blood transfusions. I Left the hospital with an open abdomen that took three years to close My hospital they were cited for being in violation of five state laws and ten federal laws for unsanitary conditions in their operating rooms it took me ten years of almost weekly physical therapy to get back to a new normal life I Spent this past year 2017 fighting for my life all over again I Went to the hospital with a sinus infection and they said okay, we're going to keep you because it looks like you're starting to be in the early stages of sepsis Well the next morning the infectious disease doctor came and he said oh great news We're gonna send you home and I said really and he said you know my history I said I'm a survivor of sepsis pseudomonas MRSA VRE and necrotizing fasciitis Can we wait until my labs come back before you? Discharge me and you know, I'd like to see what some of the cultures are saying and he goes Oh, we didn't we didn't do any cultures. We don't need that and you know We did a test for pneumonia and influenza and you're fine. You don't have those so we're gonna go ahead and let you go home And I said well, can I get a second opinion on that? Can we talk to someone about that and? He said I'm the best infectious disease doctor in the valley probably the state Any other doctor is gonna tell you the same thing I'm telling you I Ended up having two more surgeries two more blood transfusions deep vein thrombosis blood clots in both arms. I was Right back where I was five years before And it just it really cemented for me the need to change the way We teach doctors the way we treat doctors the way they interact with patients and patients interact with them We need to start sharing patient experience With our medical students with our nursing students so that they can get it from the horse's mouth If you want to know what that means ask Alicia Cole who suffers the long-term effects of the hospital acquired infection You know, we've learned a lot in health care and we're better than we were 10 years ago We're doing great at talking about patient-centered care. We're doing great at talking about preventing errors We've got to do better in the action of it Oh, Alicia Thank you for sharing your continuing story We appreciate your bravery and your resilience you are a survivor and I applaud you When I was 31 it took me six months to get diagnosed with breast cancer I Had to beg plead and negotiate with my general practitioner and the insurance company to get proactive care The GP kept telling me it was nothing. I was too young and since I had no family history I should just get on with my life Had I listened to him I Wouldn't be here with you today Being a survivor of misdiagnosis made me become an advocate for my own care and for those I love Hi, I'm Alicia Cole and I'm a survivor of sepsis Pseudomonas Mersa VRE and necrotizing fasciitis I'm actually a two-time survivor of sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis following medical care And I want to say thank you. Thank you for participating today. Thank you for joining us for World Patient Safety Day Thank you for joining in our campaign to unite for safe care If you're here to join us in our campaign for safe care It means that you care about patients It means that you care about your family that you care about health care providers It means that you care about yourself and your community and I thank you after surviving medical harm You have weeks of recovery at best months if you're lucky years if You're fortunate and some of us It's a lifetime journey Unfortunately Making it out of the hospital is just the first step Well, I feel very fortunate to have survived medical harm There are a lot of people that can't be with us today or can't speak like I am Speaking to you today because of the medical harm It's an honor for me to be here and be able to share my story So that other people don't have to experience what I've been through so The key word is I'm fortunate and I survived Jack and Teresa Gentry are two of my heroes After Jack suffered a catastrophic life-changing event Gentries feared they would receive the same deny lie and defend tactics Steven Margo Burroughs received after their mother Judy was harmed Over the hospital where Jack was harmed immediately implemented an open and honest approach known as candor Which stands for communication and optimal resolution? Jack and Teresa were so impressed with how they were treated They have been presenting to health care systems across the country Sharing their story in why every hospital needs to implement the agency for health care quality and safety's candor toolkit Full transparency with open and honest communication after preventable medical harm is not only the right thing to do But it is also the smart thing to do Please join me in welcoming my good friends Jack and Teresa Gentry as a survivor of medical harm For me personally it just It took me down a different path in life that I had no expectations prior to the the incident of traveling and It made me aware that they're not alone as a survivor and it made me aware of the hundreds of thousands of people who die from preventable medical errors So it just Just changed where I was going in life Most part of the fact that I've had the been afforded the opportunity to both locally and nationally take the message of the Importance of dealing with patient safety and transparency to other hospital administrators and insurance companies and pharmacists of the How difficult it is to Be a victim of a preventable medical harm and I'm proud of the fact that I've been able to take that message around the country and hopefully have impacted Some of the folks that I've spoken to I think one of the things that I'm proud of is that we have been able to make our lives successful and fulfilling after medical harm including our family our friends and All the people we've met and it's been interesting the work we do being able to change just one person's outcome By spreading the word about medical error and or transparency in health care is One of the greatest rewards. I know we feel Very thankful when we hear back that something like that has really had a positive effect Thank You Jack and Teresa. You're an inspiration We need hope we need inspiration now We need a plan for change We need a way to provide safer care for everyone Don't we all deserve that? Help us make impactful change