WHEN APOLOGIZING ISN’T ENOUGH, part 1

It’s a phrase that many people use to rectify a problem. Most parents train their children to apologize as toddlers, claiming that it teaches them good manners and behavioral skills.

“Go ahead Billy,” a mother would say. “Tell Amy you’re sorry for taking her cookie.”

Billy would then unwillingly mutter, “Sorry for taking your cookie Amy.”

Saying “I’m sorry” has become a standard for fixing a mistake or trying to make a bad situation better. But, there is a big difference between apologizing for a taking a cookie, and taking a life.

Back in September 2006, three premature infants died while in the care of Methodist Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Indiana). The preemies died after accidentally being given adult dosages of blood thinner medication, which was 1000 times the strength of the infant dose. The adult dosages of heparin was stored in the same cabinet as the infant medications, and the bottles were both tagged with blue labels—making it easy to mistake the adult bottle for the infant bottle, and vice versa.

Almost one year after the infants’ deaths, I was able to listen to a presentation on crisis communication, where two members of Methodist Hospital’s PR team spoke about the traumatic incident and how they handled the situation.

It’s tough when dealing with a problem of such magnitude, but they managed, and worked well under the pressure dealt.

The PR team worked quickly, rounding up the hospital staff, and speaking with the nurses responsible for giving the infants the deadly dosage. They knew what to do in a crisis. Once they gathered and made sense of the facts, they wrote a brief statement. They knew they had to be prepared for the media rush that would be bombarding the hospital once word of the deaths spread.

While working with the media and public, the hospital also had to communicate with the preemies’ parents. The staff had to tell the parents their child died. The staff then had to use something their parents taught them decades ago—the infamous apology.

 Here’s a dramatic reenactment (this reenactment in no way intends to ridicule or disrespect the parties involved, but instead is providing an example strictly for the post):

Hospital staff:   “Mr. and Mrs. Doe, as you know, your daughter was being treated with heparin, a medication commonly given to preemies. Well, last night she was accidentally given an adult dosage of the medication. It was too much for your daughter’s body—she couldn’t handle it.”

Parent:            “What are you saying? Please, don’t tell me something is wrong with my baby!”

Hospital staff:   “She didn’t make it. She died.”

Parent:             (sobbing)

Hospital staff:   “I’m sorry.”

Some people say common phrases like “Thank you” and “I’m sorry” so much that they forget what the phrases mean and why they’re even apologizing or thanking someone. However, after reviewing the case of Methodist Hospital, I can truly say that the staff was sincere when they offered the families their empathy and apology—they even kept in touch with the infants’ families a year after the deaths.

Months later, the hospital was eventually able to regain the public’s trust, which wouldn’t have been possible without the hospital’s PR staff, a good crisis plan, and taking preventive measures to ensure the problem doesn’t happen again.

Come back for next week’s post when I’ll talk about the right way to apologize and mean what you say. I’ll also discuss the effect “apologizing,” sincere or fake, can have on a family and organization. I’ll also touch on how and why Methodist Hospital changed their standard procedures following the infants’ deaths.