![]() This isn’t the way a proper time-out should be performed. Is it just me, or is this what it feels like to call a time-out sometimes? If the circulator is the one responsible for initiating the time-out, oftentimes they’re left yelling over the noise that is already in the room, trying to get anyone to participate, or even acknowledge that they’re speaking. The time-out gets treated like a delay, or an inconvenience, and it isn’t given the proper attention. I’ve been there, I know that this happens. ![]() It’s these avoidable errors that our time-outs are aimed at preventing.Īnd I don’t mean a “time-out” where anesthesia is still talking, the scrub is still setting up their back table, and the surgeon is asking for the music to be turned up. A mistake that could have been caught if everyone was paying attention. It’s a horrible thing to think that our patients trusted us for their care, but we made a mistake. Times when the error wasn’t caught, and I’ve witnessed the terrible fall-out from a surgical error. ![]() I’ve also experienced incidences that didn’t have such a good ending. And even though I wasn’t directly involved in the error, it was unsettling to think about what almost happened. I helped pull the new supplies and helped get the patient properly prepped for surgery. I wasn’t the circulator in this case, but I was there the day it happened. And after another time-out was performed, the procedure moved on, as scheduled, on the correct side of the patient’s body. The patient was re-prepped and re-draped on the proper side. The circulator was nauseous from the thought of what could have happened, but the entire team breathed a collective sigh of relief as they quickly broke down the drapes and pulled new ones. Everyone recognized the gravity of the situation and the seriousness of the error that had just been avoided. The circulator called for the time-out, and as the surgical team reviewed the procedure, positioning, and surgical site, a stark realization struck them all: “We’ve prepped the wrong leg.” Their leg was prepped and draped, and everyone in the room was ready to start the procedure. A couple of years ago, on a day like any other day in the OR, a patient was rolled into the room, put to sleep, and positioned for surgery.
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