Translation of Aviation Safety Principles to Patient Safety in Surgery

Abstract

The aviation industry functions as a high-reliability organization that has used a variety of practices to maintain an enviable safety record, despite the inherent risks of flying. The inherent risks associated with air transport, the team structure of its aircrews, and the importance of a methodical approach in completing critical tasks, makes it in many ways similar to the perioperative setting. Using simulator training, line-oriented safety audits, check airmen, crew resource management, checklists, incident reporting, root cause analysis, and various communication strategies, the aviation industry has established itself as a leader in safety protocols to ensure high reliability. However, the safety record of surgery as a whole has not been so enviable.

Original document

The different versions of the original document can be found in:

• https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4369-7_16 under the license cc-by

• http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-1-4471-4369-7_16,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4369-7_16

• https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4471-4369-7_16,

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4471-4369-7_16/fulltext.html,

https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/46414049