6 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 1 7
The healthcare and
airline industries
have a lot in com-
mon, so there are a
lot of lessons one
can learn from the
other, especially in
matters of safety.
I like to tell a story
about a time when I
was on an airplane, because it's an almost perfect analogy for what
might happen in an OR where courage wins. I saw a ramp worker
looking up quizzically at the plane's wing. A few minutes later the
same gentleman entered the cabin and went toward the cockpit to
speak with the captain. The 2 men had a quick conversation and then
left the plane to go out onto the tarmac for a closer look.
Soon enough, the airline announced that we had to offload. All of
the passengers were grousing about the inconvenience of having to
change planes, but it turns out we had a good reason to do so: It was
a hydraulic leak, which is a serious situation you don't want to be
dealing with when you're at 10,000 feet.
The person responsible for averting that potential disaster was a
ramp worker, not a mechanic or someone who knows about the
specifics of aviation. He saw something that didn't look quite right so
he did the uncomfortable thing by going to the person who was in
command.
It took the aviation industry 30 to 40 years to get to this point.
What Safety Lessons Can ORs Learn from the Airlines?
COURAGE UNDER FIRE
• RAISE YOUR VOICE You don't have to be the one holding the scalpel to recognize a situation that could result
in tragedy. Just ask the airline ramp worker in the story below.
SURGICAL
ERRORS
