rebecca's pocket

» In response to a 1999 report claiming that 98,000 American patients die annually from preventable human errors, medical centers around the country are hiring professional pilots to train them on how to apply aviation safety principles to critical care in hospitals. "The culture in the operating room has always been the surgeon as the captain at the controls with a crew of anesthesiologists, nurses and techs hinting at problems and hoping they will be addressed. We need to change the culture so communication is more organized, regimented and collaborative, like what you find now in the cockpit of an airplane." Dr. Stephen B. Smith, chief medical officer at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.