Eight-year-old Robert celebrated his birthday at Milton, California. He wanted the event to be memorable, so he had invited his friends and relatives to the party. Robert cut the cake, unwrapped some glittery gifts, and then joined his peers for dinner. Great!
A week later, Robert fell sick.
High fever, difficulty in walking, hallucinations, and blindness were some of the symptoms.
Robert’s father had all the money in the world, so he consulted the top neurologists in California. While a few felt doubtful of the cause, there was one chief doctor who got it right. And he was alarmed.
In a worrying tone, he said to Robert’s father, “I’m sorry. Your son is affected by a brain disorder called CJD, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.” Avoiding the poor father’s horrific stare, the doctor hung his head low and continued, “Too early for your son’s age. We’ll do our best, but make him happy and get whatever he wants because his days could be numbered.”
Robert’s father felt dizzy for a moment. He almost fainted.
This incident happened a year ago. It shook the entire family circle and neighbors of Robert.
Did Robert survive?
Before I tell you what happened then, I’d like to reveal some crucial reports. Reports that confirmed how Robert was infected in the first place.
It all started at the birthday party at Milton. A couple of days before the party, the ballroom was rented to a medical organization to carry out its surgical training.
Did anything go wrong?
Not much.
Except when the deceased’s torso was cut open, blood oozed out from the cadaver and spilled on the carpet that was barely protected by the plastic sheet. The same carpet on which Robert rolled over in a friendly tussle with his friend Thomas. One of the practicing surgeons reported that fragments of the bone pieces took off when the cadaver’s knee was amputated. But it was not confirmed.
No matter what happened, only Robert knew if he had washed his hands before licking the creamy flesh of cheesy eggless truffle cake off his little fingers.
But it was too late.
Such surgical training practices are largely held at various top hotels and corporate bodies. But the security standards are of major concern. Reports claim 90 such insecure cadaver labs have been set up since 2012, and the numbers can only increase.
Reuters issued a shocking statement. It said such practices are usually taking place at the resorts & rental spaces of Disney, Hilton, Hyatt, Radisson, and Sheraton. (When was the last time you’ve been to any of these places? Did you wash your hands?)
This hazardous process not just risks the lives of other commoners, but also the doctors and practitioners involved. The report also mentioned the snacks served in one of the cadaver stations at Disney. (Docs, resist the urge to cut slices of bread beside a body that’s already sliced into two)
All right. Probing the past doesn’t solve the present. What happened to Robert then?
His father gave all he could. Beyond imagination. The doctors put in their best efforts, as they always do. Poor little Robert had no idea what was going on, why his family acted weird by faking smiles and hugs. Every time he asked his dad, he would pacify by saying, “It’s just the flu, Rob. You’re gonna be okay.”
But then, things got worse.
What happened to Robert could happen to any of us, or worse, to our children.
In an attempt to curb such risky training, the Med-tech field delivered a breakthrough with a promising solution - VR (Virtual Reality) based Surgical Training & Assessment.
The cutting-edge VR technology, largely found in the gaming world, has been saving lives and improving the quality of surgical demonstrations as well. Especially when COVID-19 nicked the chances of practicing surgeons’ usual hands-on learning model, VR surgical training ensures they can still do it.
So, does this mean medical students and residents can perform, learn, and master the art of surgical operations right at their place?
Yes.
How does it benefit over traditional training?
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Limits expenditure. Usually, med-firms spend more than $200,000.
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Reliance on donated bodies is reduced.
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Quality assessment.
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Equal hands-on experience. (There’s no one specific doc or just two smart students who only get to operate)
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No more hazardous environment. Or ballrooms.
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Repetitive practice. (Impossible with a cadaver)
“We’re definitely living in unprecedented times, and healthcare professionals are facing the toughest challenges. They are either on the frontlines, risking their lives, or they are staying at home, unable to train and hone their skills given that elective cases are mostly on hold,”
said Dr. Justin Barad, CEO, and Co-Founder of Osso VR, a virtual reality (VR) surgical training and assessment platform, to Medgadget.com.
“This unique situation has led to the massive demand for ways to train remotely without needing to be in the hospital, and we’ve seen a 10x spike in demand from teaching hospitals,”
The technology has sufficient realism to enhance the liveliness of the experience. Also, inbuilt haptic interactions deliver a fascinating training ambiance for users.
VR augmented in the medical domain can revolutionize the learning model and can promote quality surgeons in the future. The same concept could also be applied to any education system as it provides better visual and application-oriented learning with absolutely zero risks.
All right. It’s about time we disclosed Robert’s end.
I write this with a heavy heart that our dear eight-year-old Robert is just a fictional character. So, yes, he’s very much alive!
The entire story about Robert was cooked up to underline the possible life-threatening consequences a team of doctors who leave behind.
Though it is believed that cadavers can’t really spread infections, the majority of the health professionals issue a strict warning.
“When the deceased is cut open, there’s an increased risk of a disease being transmitted to others,”
said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, to Reuters.
Doctors feel cadavers could spread antibiotic-resistant staph infections or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare degenerative brain condition. (Poor Robert!)
Let’s serve and grow together, equally and responsibly.
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