Hospital patient care is becoming hazardous to the patient's health. There must be someone---a family member -- to act as sentinel to prevent medical errors. The large number of preventable deaths in hospitals nation-wide has been highly publicised. Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide To Get Your Loved One Out Alive by Martine Ehrenclou, MA, is a new book about how to be a proactive advocate for your hospitalised loved one in order to prevent medical error, medication mistakes, fatal falls and the spread of hospital-acquired infectious diseases. Critical Conditions is a step-by-step guide based on over 150 interviews with registered nurses, physicians and hospital staff, Ehrenclou's own experiences with hospitalised family members and hundreds of hours of research. It is a book for family members written by a family member who has been there. A reported quarter of a million deaths in hospitals nation-wide were found to be preventable (The Fifth Annual Health Grades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, 2008). If someone has a parent, spouse, sibling or child in the hospital, they must get actively involved in the patient's care to monitor and oversee the medical care that is provided. Hospitalised patients are recovering either from an injury, illness or disease and cannot do this for themselves. Someone, a family member or good friend, must act as a sentinel, a watchdog, to avert preventable, fatal errors. You will learn how to: Prevent deadly medical errors, medication mistakes, infectious diseases. Reach doctors when you need them every time. Navigate and manage the hospital system with confidence. Interact with doctors and nurses effectively. Maximise care for the patient. Comfort the patient. What to do if you live out of town. Create a Family Advocate Team.