IF THE BRADY CAMPAIGN REALLY WANTS TO SAVE LIVES, FORGET GUNS, HERE ARE 100,000 EASY SAVES A YEAR!

From the Chicago Sun-Times: Basic steps could save 100,000 patients

Thousands of patients die every year when hospitals fail to follow safety practices such as washing hands or giving aspirin after heart attacks.

But a nationwide campaign is trying to save 100,000 lives by signing up hospitals to a six-step patient safety program.

The nonprofit Institute for Healthcare Improvement is bringing its "100,000 Lives" campaign to Chicago today with a news conference at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

About 2,800 hospitals, including 70 in Illinois, have signed on to the campaign, which runs through June 14, 2006.

The initial goal was 1,500 hospitals. "We are so far beyond what we dared hope for," said Carol Haraden, vice president of the Healthcare Improvement Institute.