Here’s a fascinating story about an English doctor who performed a lifesaving amputation while volunteering in the Congo – by texting back and forth with a colleague back in London.

The BBC reports:

There were just 6in (15cm) of the boy's arm remaining, much of the surrounding muscle had died and there was little skin to fold over the wound.

Mr Nott knew he needed to perform a forequarter amputation, requiring removal of the collar bone and shoulder blade.

He contacted Professor Meirion Thomas, from London's Royal Marsden Hospital, who had performed the operation before.

"I texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it," he said.

"Even then I had to think long and hard about whether it was right to leave a young boy with only one arm in the middle of this fighting.

"But in the end he would have died without it so I took a deep breath and followed the instructions to the letter.

"I knew exactly what my colleague meant because we have operated together many times."

Todd Morrison
Managing editor

As if a seemingly endless list of problems weren’t enough, the Washington Post writes that President-elect Obama will also have to reform the FDA. Altough much of the aricle focuses on food and drug safety, how much of these troubles affect its ability to approve the technology you create privileges for?

"FDA is close to being at a tipping point -- the agency is hanging on by its fingertips in protecting us," said William K. Hubbard, who worked for the agency for 27 years. "If something is not done, they could become a failed institution, and no one wants that. The FDA is not only important to protecting the public health but also to the industries it regulates."

Pamela Lewis with the AMA writes about a doctor in Phoenix who also serves as his facility’s “physician champion” when it comes to implementing new technology.

The advantages are obvious—ending up with technology that physicians want and can use:

Experts agree physician champions are a key component to any tech implementation project. And, like Dr. Parisi, many physicians can assume this role just by asking. The champion need not even be the most tech-savvy physician on staff.

The responsibilities can include more than being an advocate. After Dr. Parisi assumed his champion role, he soon found himself attending high-level meetings, answering about 20 extra e-mails a day and designing training programs to help speed implementation. He still had his regular duties in the emergency department.

But that person should know that like a quarterback, he or she gets a sizeable share of the credit - and blame:

"It was like having another full-time job," Dr. Parisi said. "Once you are the focus person you become the focus for praise and for people who want to vent. If someone wants to be angry about something, they come to you."

Todd Morrison
Managing editor