People in my institute specialize in
the use of sticking plaster (adhesive tape) in ways more than one can
imagine. Practically every department uses it in innovative ways.I had done extensive research on the
topic before writing an article on this topic and thought I had listed all
possible uses of the sticking plaster, conventional as well as
unconventional, as found in our institute. But I was wrong.
The other day we were working in the
OT. I was checking the consent given by a patient for undergoing an
operation. There was an error in the form.
“This is an error” I pointed it out
to my Registrar. “Please correct it.”
I thought she would get a new consent
form, fill it up, and get the patient’s signature again. Either she
had no spare form, or she was eco-friendly and did not want to waste
a sheet of paper, or there was no time. I think it was the last
reason. They are very particular about time slots in the OT. They do
not permit induction of anesthesia after 1:00 P.M. Any wastage of
time means one or two operations getting postponed. SO she took out a
strip of sticking plaster, stuck it over the word to be changed, and
pulled it off. A thin layer of the paper came off with it, removing
the unwanted word. Then she proceeded to write a new word in place of
the one just removed. I suppose this would not be acceptable on a
bank cheque or an affidavit, but was OK on a consent. She took the
patient’s signature on the change. She achieved two things – one
was a correction in the consent, and the other was my education on a
newer use of a sticking plaster.
