Parents-to-be 'should stop filming ultrasounds'

[demoleft]

Source: bbc

Parents-to-be should not be allowed to record ultrasounds on mobile phones or video cameras, pregnancy scans experts say.

The Society and College of Radiographers says there are an increasing number of reports of patients trying to make recordings.

But it warns sonographers could be distracted, and miss vital signs of problems in the developing baby.
...
It says that, as well as the risk of diverting the sonographer's attention at the point when they most need to concentrate, there could be legal complications if an abnormality is recorded by the scan, but not reported or acted upon.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10742898

---

one more example where technology itself drives a trend - and not the contrary.
with some risk, apparently.

[crim son]

1. Interesting.

When I read the subject line I thought it referred to some states' attempt to force women wanting an abortion to view an ultrasound of the fetus before giving consent, but it's something else altogether.

[razorman]

40. I've got no problem with parents filming their kids all they want.

Just stop insisting on showing them to me.

[sandnsea]

2. Bullshit

If the sonographer can't do their job thoroughly, and then let the parents make a recording, the sonographer is an idiot who I don't want near me anyway.

[jmowreader]

3. I've never seen a sonograph, but...

do those machines have some way to record the images they generate, like having a CD-RW drive on them or something? If so, and the file format is standardized (you'd think it would be, so the doctor could FTP a QuickTime or Windows Media file to another doctor for a second opinion), the doctor SHOULD be able to just dump the file to a blank CD the parents bring with them.

[ZombieHorde]

4. My wife and I just brought in a recordable DVD and they made a copy for us.

Pretty simple.

[woodsprite]

16. Exactly, and in our hospital, it's not the sonographer that evaluates

what they see, they just are there to get clear pics. A doctor evaluates the recorded image in the privacy of his office while you wait. As for recording, they would put the recording on DVD or on VHS for you. I would think making the printouts for you would be a heck of a lot more distraction than making a recording.

[AngryOldDem]

37. Exactly.

But back in the Stone Age we used VHS cassettes.

[Kali]

17. it may refer to the technician's handling of the reader

not their ability to read the images - more when they are handling the scanner itself

I say this based on recent experience having a pelvic ultrasound for a cystic ovary. I have prints of what was done and the notes as well. I'm fat so she actually had some trouble getting the shots.

[eilen]

7. Medical tests are not Kodak moments

they actually have a purpose and the sonographer has plenty of people in line. They are not there so people can film it. Most people can't tell what the hell is going on in a sonogram anyway. Most techs will print off a couple of photos for the patient. Don't get me on my "hospitals aren't hotels" soapbox. I wonder why people are so narcissistic -- maybe Drs should sell videos of colonoscopies next.

[sandnsea]

19. Exactly, they print off photos as it is

So how does this all of a sudden interfere with their ability to do their job. It doesn't. And a pregnancy is not the same thing as a colonoscopy. You're the exact type of person I don't want anywhere near me and who thankfully wouldn't work in our health system for two minutes.

[eilen]

28. Well I guess it's good you don't live in my town.

And are not likely to enter my ER.

We have strict rules in the hospital regarding cameras and recording devices.

[AngryAmish]

30. This is done for liability reasons

[nodehopper]

21. "Medical tests are not Kodak moments" says you.

It's part of a pregancny and birth process, as it unfolds in our culture, which many people want to document. The very fact that printouts of ultrasounds are standard "pregnancy souvenirs" in our culture, despite serving absolutely no medical purpose, is a testament to the perspective different than yours. I personally wouldn't care to videotape a sonogram, but there isn't a monopoly on meaning of medical test spaces and cirumstances.

[CatsDogsBabies]

33. My doctor

gave me a single sheet with 4 images from my colonoscopy. I brought it home and shoved it under something. I found it when cleaning for guests. I am glad I found it again = I would hate for someone visiting my home to accidentally find my colonoscopy pictures.

[NickB79]

35. My wife had 6 ovarian cysts removed last year

And a month after the surgery, we get a 2-disk DVD set in the mail from the hospital. "What the hell is this?", I ask my wife. We pop it in the DVD player, and IT IS THE ENTIRE 4 HOUR OPERATION! Why they made us a DVD of it is beyond us; we did not request one.

[haydukelives]

13. WOW

you know everything.
ra, ra, ra

[Bette Noir]

26. Agreed.

[slampoet]

43. Bullshit. The machines just make a copy of the file. No distraction required. just a flash drive or

DVD

[Lasher]

5. Legal complications

Looks like some sonographers don't want to be accountable.

[eilen]

29. Please that is laughable

the quality of a hand held cellphone video filming the screen of an Ultrasound is not what I call credible or usable evidence. The actual test results are digital-- like MRI results and would be produced in discovery of any action.

[Lasher]

32. The hell you say.

From the article linked in the OP:

It says that, as well as the risk of diverting the sonographer's attention at the point when they most need to concentrate, there could be legal complications if an abnormality is recorded by the scan, but not reported or acted upon.

Maybe everyone's laughing at me as you have suggested. But maybe the're instead laughing at you.

On edit: You are one of those who do not want to be held accountable: "We have strict rules in the hospital regarding cameras and recording devices." Now why would that be? I'll bet that's to keep patients from turning into mutants on account of the cell phone radiation, right?

[eilen]

34. I think you have misconstrued the issue of why there

can be legal complications. They are saying that if the technician is distracted by the family members waving around cellphone or video cameras, an abnormality can be overlooked, and then the facility is sued. The focus of the technician should always be the patient and getting the highest quality reading. They are trained to look for abnormalities so they can contact the doctor in a timely manner so it can be addressed as soon as possible. It is a sonogram, a diagnostic test, not a theater or movie set. The reasons hospitals have strict rules on cameras is because privacy. We have to follow federal HIPPA laws. Seeing how our Emergency Depts are so overrun we have to tend to patients on stretchers in the hallways, I think that banning the use of cameras is a good thing.

I have no problem being accountable for my job. I have to document five ways till Tuesday in order to protect myself so that in the event I am supeonaed in court, I can perhaps reconstruct what happened one evening shift eight months ago or two years ago. Since you persist on being so personal in this thread I wonder if you could do the same thing?

I find the stance here on cameras very ironic. I'm sure many object to cameras at traffic intersections and in public/private squares considering it "big brother" in action.

[Lasher]

36. No I certainly have not.

There is a concern about sonographer distraction, "as well as" a concern about legal action on account of negligence. Not just a concern about legal action that might occur because of such distraction. The excerpt I cited makes this clear.

Now you've got people roaming around hospitals, waving video cameras and taking pictures of strangers on cots in the hallways. I'll give you credit for drama but that's really not what we're discussing, is it? And that wasn't enough obfuscation, so you had to throw in cameras at intersections. We're talking about a woman having a video recording made, with her consent and according to her wish, of a procedure performed on her own body.

Since you asked, I believe I could reconstruct something that happened 8 months ago. Or I might just make it up, particularly if I didn't want the truth of the actual event to be known. That sure would be a lot easier if potential plaintiffs weren't allowed to collect video evidence.

"Since you persist on being so personal in this thread..."

Before this reply I had posted twice to this thread. One of those two posts was a reply to you. How do you persist once? And since you set the tone by saying my opinion was "laughable" I was hoping you wouldn't mind if responded in kind - in that one persistent reply.

[truthisfreedom]

6. Protecting the wanted unborn should be a priority.

Period.

[mwooldri]

8. If the machine is an advanced "4d" machine...

- with the pictures that are in three dimensions - then there is no need for the future parents to film the sonograph.

My wife's OB-GYN docs office have this equipment. They also offer a "fun ultrasound" session, which of course has to be paid privately as insurance would not cover this. In the fun sessions, the technician is looking for pictures, will record some video, and looking for the foetus to pose somewhat.

Failing that, the technician will often print out a couple of pics for the future parents to take home with them.

[DRoseDARs]

9. Parents-to-be 'should stop talking during ultrasounds'

Source: bs

Parents-to-be should not be allowed to talk during ultrasounds or move in any way, pregnancy scans experts say.

The Society and College of Radiographers says there are an increasing number of reports of patients trying to make idle conversation and discuss what they're seeing.

But it warns sonographers could be distracted, and miss vital signs of problems in the developing baby.
...
It says that, as well as the risk of diverting the sonographer's attention at the point when they most need to concentrate, there could be legal complications if an abnormality is recorded by the scan, but not reported or acted upon.





If the sonographer is getting distracted by parents holding a camera, maybe the sonographer should be fired for being incompetent. Bloody hell, people are always trying to find new ways to bitch and complain and blame others for their own failings. :eyes:

[panzerfaust]

39. 'maybe the sonographer should be fired for being incompetent"

Or, perhaps, a sophisticated medical exam should not be treated as though one were having a haircut?

There are still a few jobs that require concentration and thought to do well.

And though there may be a few sonographers who can chat and not be distracted from doing competent exam - I expect they are a small minority.

Likewise, you might consider that most people get nervous in front of a camera. When nervous, most people do not perform at their best.

It is a needless distraction.

[newfie11]

10. Might be the doctors protecting themselves

My daughter is a registered sonographer. There are protocols that one must follow for each exam and they cannot skip any. I don't believe she has ever had parents recording on a cell in 15 years of scanning. The parents are given pictures and also can be given a disc of the baby.

I would bet the doctors questioning this are more into protecting themselves. If something is wrong with the baby after it is born and that was missed by the radiologist or OB then the lawsuits follow. It is not so critical on the still photos but when a disc is given or a cell recording it can turn out to be evidence in court proving something was missed.

For this reason some places have stopped the disc and only giving still photos.

[MikeW]

11. ya what the hell

They should ban cameras in the delivery room too ... NO STINKING PICS OR VIDEOS OF THEIR CHILD'S BIRTH.

Just who the hell do those parents think they are!!

:sarcasm:

[AngryAmish]

31. That is done in many hospitals

When there is a video record that contradict the misstatements in the medical records it gets ugly, and expensive, for the doctors.

[xchrom]

12. recommend

[postulater]

14. I understand there is diagnostic benefit in some cases but

we preferred the anticipation of not knowing until the delivery.

One of the best moments of my life was when my second child was being born. The midwife said the baby was ready so I went into our five year old daughter's bedroom, woke her, and told her that mom was letting the baby come out now. She instantly got up and came into our bedroom. When the midwife caught the baby, our daughter looked and proudly said, "It's a sister!"

They have been best friends for sixteen years now.

So in our case, the mystery was in not-knowing.

[JCMach1]

15. The equivalent of destroying xrays after reading

What a load of hog's whallup...

[DWinNJ]

18. While I understand that

that there is something special about everything related to birth

How many people want to have themselves recorded while they work.
This is the slow encroachment of Big Brother in seemingly innocuous ways.

I would also be willing to bet that some of these people are gathering ammunition for a shotgun approach lawsuit, just in case something goes wrong.

[mbperrin]

20. Hmmm, accurate recordings held outside the doctors' office

are bad, because....................if the doctor is an idiot, it can be proven, and he or she cannot destroy the evidence.

[Honeycombe8]

22. Who would want to record that, anyway?

That sounds weird to me. Is it like, instead of pulling out pics of the kids to show your friends, you circulate the ultrasounds of the kids? Eeeew. Does anyone really want to see the insides of someone else's body? What next? Circulating your CAT scan of your brain, or one of your mammogram views?

[Igel]

24. Lots of people.

It's the first pictures you'll ever have of your kid. And you get them a few months before you actually see the kid.

We still have the video of our son, and at some point (probably not far off) we'll show it to him. It's a good "you know, kid, you started out in your mommy's belly" sort of ice-breaker. It's one thing to say the words; it's another to see a video of yourself nestled in there.

[JerseygirlCT]

42. It's actually sort of fun to have

For people who are excited about the pregnancy.

Definitely not something you'd want to pass around the office. But mom and dad and the grands...

[Sgent]

23. This doesn't really apply

in the US. Its talking about the UK -- where (for instance) they may not have physician review of the sonography, they may have older machines that don't record the results, etc.

[naaman fletcher]

25. BS.

They just don't want any evidence when they screw up.

[Bette Noir]

27. Ding ding ding!

[Traveling_Home]

38. Drug test all the Radiographers - make sure they didn't have beer at lunch if its so fucking import.

[JerseygirlCT]

41. I was handed a photo 12 years ago with my youngest. A few of them,

actually. The tech handed them to me after running the U/S.

They were fun to have, but I never thought about getting a photo like that.