Every single patient in the hospital has some risk of developing a blood clot in the leg veins which can cause a deadly clot in the lungs if it breaks off and travels north.  That's called a pulmonary embolism, and it kills tens of thousands of patients a year -- always suddenly and often without warning. 

But just knowing about the issue is a big step forward for family members, because you can ask the doctor in charge of the patient's care: What is the plan for blood clot prevention? 

If there isn't a specific plan -- and shockingly often, there isn't -- there needs to be one.

There are a variety of techniques for blood clot prevention -- medicines like Lovenox (works immediately) and Coumadin (takes effect only after a few days of treatment), special pressure stockings for the legs, even a regular program of walking up and down the hall (immobility is the biggest risk factor for getting a clot in the first place).  The right technique depends on the patient's risk level.  

Here is an on-line tool for assessing your patient's risk, just to double-check that the doctors are doing the right thing.

A computerized medication system in the hospital is a good way to prevent this kind of error. You will see this in the hospital room because the nurse delivering medicine will be scanning a bar code for the patient and other bar codes on each medication brought to the room -- and they should match.

If the hospital doesn't have that system, the bedside advocate has to watch each time medications are delivered. Are they the same color and size and amount as before? If not, why not?  If you watch this closely, in any hospital stay of any length, you are almost guaranteed to catch an error.  It's that simple.

Which takes me back to the first advice on injury prevention: Someone must be with the hospitalized patient, in the room, at all times, as the patient's advocate and care monitor.