Winds tore down houses. Good people tore down silos.

While a storm raged and lives were threatened, good people did the right thing. They worked together -- call it medical collaboration -- to save lives.

For those who wish a short read rather than a short video, here is the story. It starts with flooding of one of the United States’ respected institutions. NYU is in Manhattan, next to the East River. Despite precautions and advanced architecture, it experienced flooding. Backup generators were at the top of the building, but the pumps that supplied fuel to them failed at the bottom. 

This accompanying screen shot from the TV report shows six or seven people working together to care for one 8-hour old baby. They worked together in a simple way. One held the baby and endotracheal tube, another mechanically ventilated the child, another worked with the monitor, and another with the IV bag and central line. They walked down many flights of stairs as a single unit. They were guided by medical students holding flashlights, and a unit clerk counting and reporting stairs. The father also is seen to be a participant. The nurse talks about the healthcare collaboration starting at about 55 seconds into the video.

This was an exceptional circumstance. One that was not scripted nor regulated... instead, only a collection of individuals who functioned as one collaborating team. The group might have looked like a disorganized centipede, but they got the job done. Imagine similar care for obesity, diabetes, back pain, or deformity...imagine getting the job done in a simple, straight forward way.

We should expect the same exceptional medical collaboration of (from and for) ourselves to be routine, everyday. Each of us has a role, each can hold something, count something, light the way. We need both the intentional encouragement and the tools to do this. ClickCare is tool, now we need the intent. 

When silo-made attitude, lassitude, regulation, hierarchy, and skills are broken down, we can all carry our patients to safety and will be proud to do so.

We congratulate Ms. Condon and the thousands of medical collaborators like her. As she said

“It was a beautiful thing.” 

Learn how iClickCare can make this happen everyday for you.