Critical but stable

Question

Just to keep this group alive...Yet again I hear on the wireless that a victim of violence is - and has been for several days - in a 'critical but stable condition'. To my ear, these are almost antonyms, a view borne out I think by dictionaries. How do you understand it?Noel

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Just to keep this group alive... Yet again I hear on the wireless that a victim of violence is - ... To my ear, these are almost antonyms, a view borne out I think by dictionaries. How do you understand it?[/nq]
I have had similar thoughts about that description.

This seems to be a relevant definition:
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/critical
2. pertaining to a disease or other morbid condition in which thereis danger of death.
Stable has its usual meaning: unchanging.
An analogy might be of someone standing at the top of a cliff very close to the edge. They are in a critical condition. Standing still, being in a stable condition, is better than wobbling about, being in an unstable condition.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in uk.culture.language.english)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Just to keep this group alive... Yet again I hear on the wireless that a victim of violence is - ... To my ear, these are almost antonyms, a view borne out I think by dictionaries. How do you understand it?[/nq]
Critical = "life-threatening"
stable = "getting neither worse nor better"
Someone whose life is threatened can have their condition worsening or improving, while at the same time still remaining life-threatening. Consider someone whose heart is beating irregularly... it can either stop completely (getting worse) or beat more regularly but still be dangerous (getting better). Stable implies there's no change in the condition, even though that condition remains serious.
Theo

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Critical = "life-threatening" stable = "getting neither worse nor better"[/nq]
My understanding is presumably coloured by descriptions of the course of a feverish illness. As it progresses, the patient eventually reaches the crisis - the point of decision from which it could go either way. A crisis is to my mind a momentary situation, so a stable crisis doesn't make sense. Peter's analogy of the cliff-edge is perhaps a bit closer to what the hospital spokesman meant, but I can't help thinking that (a) the usage is a devaluation of an otherwise useful term, and (b) there must be other ways of describing the situation that don't make old pedants like me do a double-take.

Noel

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Critical = "life-threatening" stable = "getting neither worse nor better"[/nq]
[nq:1]My understanding is presumably coloured by descriptions of the course of a feverish illness. As it progresses, the patient eventually ... (b) there must be other ways of describing the situation that don't make old pedants like me do a double-take.[/nq]
Wikipedia has an article on this subject:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical state
Medical states or medical conditions are used to describe a patient's condition in a hospital. These terms are most commonly used by the news media and are rarely used by doctors in their daily business, preferring to deal with medical problems in greater detail.
There are separate sections for USA practice and UK practice.

UK practice
The release of patient information to the press is strictly controlled in the National Health Service (NHS). The Department of Health (DH) publishes a Code of Practice for guidance to NHS Trusts.(3)
..
Each NHS Trust has its own guidance for statements to the press. The DH Code of Practice has no official definitions of the standard phrases in use. However, most NHS Trusts will specify some(4) or all(5) of the following phrases in their guidance;

* Deceased
* Critical
* Critical but stable
* Stable
* Satisfactory
* Comfortable
* Progressing well
* Discharged
USA practice
A frequently cited condition is "stable". Typically, stable is not a condition on its own; it is usually qualified with a true condition. It is commonly used to denote conditions where a patient has a favorable prognosis or stable vital signs. The American Hospital Association has advised doctors to not use the word "stable" either as a condition or in conjunction with another condition, especially one that is critical, because a critical condition inherently implies unpredictability and the instability of vital signs.(1) Despite this, "critical but stable" conditions are frequently reported, ...
The use of such conditions in the U.S. media has increased since the passing of the HIPAA in 1996. Patient privacy has become more of a concern to doctors and hospitals, and they are less likely to release specific medical conditions, fearing litigious patient

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in uk.culture.language.english)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Wikipedia has an article on this subject: state... most NHS Trusts will specify some(4) or all(5) of the following phrases in their guidance;... * Critical * Critical but stable...[/nq]
Thank you, Peter. I think it's very sad that established authorities perpetuate the bad language they never learnt to recognize.
Noel

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Wikipedia has an article on this subject: state[/nq]
[nq:2]most NHS Trusts will specify some(4) or all(5) of the following phrases in their guidance;[/nq]
[nq:2]* Critical * Critical but stable[/nq]
[nq:1]... Thank you, Peter. I think it's very sad that established authorities perpetuate the bad language they never learnt to recognize.[/nq]
I sympathise with your point but I also sympathise with the authorities. They need to have words and phrases that communicate the desired general concepts to the general public. These words and phrases need not be pedant-proof.
At least they aren't using a colour code for the conditions.

Let's see what I can invent:
Black: Deceased
Double Red: Critical
Red: Critical but stable
Double Amber: Stable
Amber: Satisfactory
Green-Amber: Comfortable
Green: Progressing well
White: Discharged

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in uk.culture.language.english)

Usenet · Answer

At 19:53:59 on Sat, 18 Apr 2009, Peter Duncanson
(Email Removed) wrote in
(Email Removed):
[nq:1]Black: Deceased Double Red: Critical Red: Critical but stable Double Amber: Stable Amber: Satisfactory Green-Amber: Comfortable Green: Progressing well White: Discharged[/nq]
Only a man could combine the concepts of "white" and "discharge" to mean "everything is OK"...

Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin (My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]... ... ... Thank you, Peter. I think it's very sad that established authorities perpetuate the bad language they never learnt to recognize.[/nq]
[nq:1]I sympathise with your point but I also sympathise with the authorities. They need to have words and phrases that communicate the desired general concepts to the general public. These words and phrases need not be pedant-proof.[/nq]
In a slightly different context, I cringe every time I hear schools inspectors and the like, going on to the effect that for a school to be "satisfactory" isn't good enough. Do they ever stop to think what the word actually means?

Mike Barnes

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]They need to have words and phrases that communicate the desired general concepts to the general public.[/nq]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/24/newsid 2785000/2785265.stm describes Queen Mary's last day:
"During the past hours Queen Mary's condition has become more grave. There has been a serious weakening of the heart action which gives rise to increasing anxiety." The third bulletin, at 1900 GMT, was brief: "Queen Mary's strength is ebbing, but Her Majesty is sleeping peacefully." The fourth and final bulletin was to announce her death.
This seems to me to communicate the general concepts perfectly adequately, using terms which anyone should be able to understand, even pedants.

Noel

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Black: Deceased Double Red: Critical Red: Critical but stable Double Amber: Stable Amber: Satisfactory Green-Amber: Comfortable Green: Progressing well White: Discharged[/nq]
[nq:1]Only a man could combine the concepts of "white" and "discharge" to mean "everything is OK"...[/nq]
"Discharged" is an administrative or organisational status rather than a state of health. It doesn't describe a patient's health so doesn't really fit into any colour coding that is based on a patient's condition.
I chose "white" having in mind a blank sheet of paper symbolic of the hospital having nothing to say on the patient's state of health.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in uk.culture.language.english)

Critical but stable

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