Incidents in the Operating Room：The Utility of the WHO’s Surgical Safety Checklist

Abstract

The WHO’s Surgical Safety Checklist was introduced in 2009, and around 60％ of hospitals in Japan have adopted the original or modified CHECKLISTS. The CHECKLIST can help identify most of problems that are often missed by surgical teams, clarify the process of complex procedures, and/or enhance overall performance by improving teamwork in the operating theater. No doubt the CHECKLIST can be meaningless if ignored by the operating room staff. While we cannot totally eliminate incidents happening during anesthesia and surgery even when using the CHECKLISTS, we should make efforts to implement and promote Safety Culture.