#618 Jittery Scan

Interesting news from the world of medicine. Seems a lady was left inside a CT scanner for hours.
The technician, apparently, went home.
This lady went to an oncology clinic in Tucson and was put in a CT scanner. What they sometimes call a CAT scan.
Which is no reason she should have been treated like cat litter.
Now understand, I am not the kind of person who likes being locked up in a tube, so this story really, really, fills me with horror.
After the technician placed her in the machine, he dimmed the lights and told her not to move for 25 minutes.
I am now twitching and jittery with imaginary torture.
I’ve got restless leg, arm, shoulder, and chest syndromes. Lay still for 25 minutes? Forget it. My CAT scan would look like one of those blurry, artsy-fartsy, fast motion photographs.
Besides, there’s nothing in the world that makes me itch behind my neck or on my face than to be told not to move my arms.
Anyhow, after a certain point, the lady felt like too much time had passed, but guess what, there’s no timer inside a CT scanner to let you know when you’re done.
Fancy that, a million dollar machine that doesn’t even have the simple technology of a tanning bed.
The 67-year-old lady called out, then screamed, then spent several hours trying to free herself from the machine. She finally managed to get sweated up enough to wriggle free.
Kind of a born again experience, I’m guessing.
She then called 911.
A physician who worked at the place said it wasn’t the first time this had happened and acted like it was no big deal.
I’m thinking if the lady died of an escape-from-the-CAT-Scanner-heart-attack his oncology clinic would be in hot water. Then again, maybe her not dying of cancer would improve his success statistic ratios.
I’m also thinking some rudimentary customer service training may be in order. Or at least one of those little checklists posted to the employee exit when they’re closing the clinic for the night.
Let’s see, lights... alarm... people in scanner...
America, ya gotta love it