You are a new surgical technologist. Your first assignment
is to work with a team in a heart transplant operation.
As the surgical
technologist, you have to make sure that everything is running smoothly. It's
your job to have all the necessary supplies available. Every minute in a surgery
is crucial. Communication is one of the skills a surgical technologist has
to have.
Randi Ramsey is a surgical technologist. "You shouldn't talk
much in an operation, so there are several other forms of communication going
on -- hand signals are a big one," she says.
Ron Johnson has been a
surgical technologist for almost 20 years. "We have a team of surgeons, an
anesthesiologist, a nurse, and a surgical tech, all working for a common cause,
the patient. We have to be able to communicate throughout the entire surgical
procedure. Obviously, verbal communication is most common, but the non-verbal
communication can be equally as essential."
You want to communicate
the following. You cannot use your voice. How will you do it?
- yes
- no
- I don't understand
- the number three
- scissors
- forceps