In the news:

Arnold Schwarzenegger Had Botched Heart Surgery Three Months Before ‘Terminator 6’ Filming, Doctor Poked Through Heart Wall: ‘I Was in the Middle of a Disaster’

What happened has been described as a “mistake.”

“Schwarzenegger remembered the doctor telling him when he woke up, “We made a mistake and poked through the heart wall and you had internal bleeding and we had to open you up very quickly to save your life.””

It sounds like the type of physical mistake that we might describe as a “slip.” As opposed to a mistake that’s born from a decision that turns out to be incorrect, it was a physical mistake that is, by definition, unintentional (which is true for all mistakes that they’re unintentional).

I don’t know the details, but there are times when a “bad decision” mistake makes a “slip” more likely to occur.

How did Arnold react?

“The actor was “really freaking out,” but he realized he would not be able to “roll the clock back” to prevent the mistake and thus he dove head first into his recovery.”

When a mistake has happened, we certainly cannot roll back the clock. But the surgical team and the hospital (or surgery center) can focus on learning and potential improvement.

Is this kind of “slip” something that’s just bound to happen occasionally? Or can it be prevented by improving the methods used in the procedure?

At least the surgeon admitted the mistake, as that admission doesn’t always happen.

And at least they detected the mistake, allowing them to take quick action that saved his life.

Here is a video with Arnold talking about all of this:

As the LA Times reported:

“Earlier this year, Netflix released a three-part documentary called “Arnold” that detailed the bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-politician-turned-actor again‘s roller-coaster life. Notably, Schwarzenegger owned up to some of his mistakes — and self-described “failures” — in the docuseries, addressing the groping and cheating scandals that ensnared him during his foray into California politics in the early 2000s and led to his split from journalist Maria Shriver.”

I’ll have to check that out. Maybe I can get Arnold to talk about his mistakes on my podcast? 🙂

I wonder how the hospital reacted? I can’t find, in the news reports, where this happened.

I hope they focused on learning and improvement instead of punishment.