** British dispatch team of surgeons and paramedics to typhoon devastated Philippines
** UK medics fail to spot stab wound on patient who later died in hospital
UNITED KINGDOM NEWS
** In an effort aid the typhoon struck Philippines, the British government dispatched a team of 12 surgeons and paramedics to the area Tuesday. ITV (November 12) said the move comes at a time when very little aid has been reaching the storm torn area. Particularly hard hit was the coastal town of Tacloban City which was essentially destroyed. The Disaster Emergency Committee said it has so far raised 13 million pounds for the relief effort. Displacing some 580,000 people (Jill Reilley/Daily Mail/November 13) the storm may have killed as many as 10,000, though Philippines President Benigno Aquino said the number was closer to 2,500.
** North West Ambulance Service brass are publicly apologizing after a team of medics failed to spot a stab wound on a young adult patient who later died in hospital. The Manchester Evening News (Stuart Greer/November 14) said the October 30th Cheshire call to attend Zain Sailsman was originally treated as a cardiac arrest following a car accident. Although medics detected bleeding, the stab wound was not discovered until arrival at a nearby hospital. To complicate matters further, the facility Sailsman was transported to was not a major trauma unit and, therefore, was ill equipped to treat him. Nine people have so far been arrested in connection with Sailsman’s death. There is no word, however, on whether or not any corrective measures were taken with the EMS practitioners who treated him.
