Patient Safety Fund
A restricted fund that supports patient safety education — plain-language summaries, red-flag handouts, multilingual safety translations, and questions-to-ask materials.
The American Society of Hirudotherapy is a nonprofit medical-education society. The Patient Safety Fund is a restricted fund: gifts and foundation support designated to it are used only to produce and maintain patient safety education materials.
Donations to this fund support patient education only. They do not fund treatment, do not pay for patient care, and are not tied to any clinical outcome. Everything this fund produces is educational reference material — it is not medical advice and does not replace a licensed clinician.
What the fund supports
Restricted donations to this fund pay for the creation, review, and translation of plain-language patient safety education.
Plain-language patient safety summaries
Readable explanations of published safety information, written so a non-specialist reader can understand the topic without a medical background.
Red-flag and when-to-seek-care handouts
Educational handouts that describe general warning signs and explain when a person should contact a licensed clinician or seek care. These materials do not diagnose, treat, or replace a clinician.
Multilingual safety translations (EN / RU / ES / DE)
Translation of patient safety education materials into English, Russian, Spanish, and German so that more readers can access the same plain-language information.
Questions to ask your clinician
Prompt sheets that help patients prepare questions for their own licensed clinician. The goal is informed conversation, not a substitute for professional medical advice.
Why it matters
Patient safety information is often written for clinicians, in clinical language, and in a single language. Many readers cannot easily find clear answers to simple questions: What are the general warning signs? When should I contact my own clinician? What should I ask at my next appointment?
This fund exists to close that gap with plain-language, multilingual education. Clear materials help people have better-informed conversations with their own licensed clinicians. The materials are educational and general; decisions about care always belong to the patient and their clinician.
How this restricted fund works
- Gifts and foundation grants designated “Patient Safety Fund” are tracked as restricted funds and applied only to patient safety education work.
- Funds pay for writing, editorial review, and translation of educational materials — not for treatment, devices, or patient care.
- The fund makes no claim about clinical outcomes. It does not promise that any patient will be treated, cured, or improved.
- All output is published as open educational reference material under the society's editorial and corrections policies.
Output metrics
This fund is newly established. Published-output counts populate here as materials are delivered; figures marked “pending” are not yet reported (never invented). “Languages covered” is a live fact.
—
pending
Plain-language summaries published
—
pending
Red-flag handouts published
4
live
Languages covered (EN/RU/ES/DE)
—
pending
Question sheets published
Counts marked pending will be populated as the fund delivers educational output (for example, summaries written or handouts translated), with each figure linked to its source. They are operational outputs, never performance figures or clinical outcomes.
What this fund does not do
Not treatment funding
This fund does not pay for treatment, patient care, devices, or procedures. It funds educational materials only.
No outcome or cure claims
The fund makes no claim that any treatment works, that any condition is cured, or that any clinical outcome will result. Materials are educational, not medical advice.
Support patient safety education
You can designate a gift to the Patient Safety Fund through the society's donation page. Designated gifts are used only for patient safety education — plain-language summaries, red-flag handouts, multilingual translations, and questions-to-ask materials.