British surgeon saves life by obeying SMS instructions
Not that we haven't seen text messaging save a life before, but this situation was clearly more intense than anything we've heard of in the past. British vascular surgeon David Nott was volunteering in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when faced with a 16-year-old boy that had "his left arm ripped off." With the knowledge that it was "badly infected and gangrenous," he relied on SMS instructions from a colleague in England in order to perform a forequarter amputation. Out of respect for your stomach, we'll spare you the details (believe us, plenty are in the read link), but the end result was that the boy was able to survive thanks to the text-based how-to guide. Who says messaging has no practical purpose?[Via textually]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
luis @ Dec 10th 2008 1:14AM
Wouldn't be easier with a call than reading all those SMS
carcomptoy @ Dec 10th 2008 1:29AM
Well, it depends. It's quicker with calling, provided you have aural memory. With text, the reader can choose how fast and carefully he can interpret the instructions. Plus, it's way cheaper too LOL.
zephxiii @ Dec 10th 2008 9:52AM
hehe, great points. I think the instructions being readable, is very important.
wako @ Dec 10th 2008 8:05AM
In related news, doctor is found to be incompetent who needed to follow instructions from SMS messages
carcomptoy @ Dec 10th 2008 9:38AM
Dude, when you're as specialized as a vascular surgeon, amputations don't usually come your way, so obviously you're going to need a little refresher course. Don't be ignorant.
dansus @ Dec 10th 2008 10:04AM
Bit late on this are we not, read this like ages ago. Ive noticed this happening at Engadget a lot lately.
Elisha Adeagbo @ Dec 10th 2008 6:57PM
who says texting is worthless