Remember when the biggest
fear of dying in a hospital was the anesthesia?
We don’t hear about anesthesia deaths anymore – or at least not too much. Maybe that’s because the Anesthesia PatientSafety Foundation was formed in 1985.
Through research and the sharing of information, advances have been made
and lives have been saved. Jeffrey Cooper PhD is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Medical Simulation,
which is dedicated to the use of simulation in healthcare. He is also a founding member of the NationalPatient Safety Foundation and a colleague of mine on the board of governors of
the NPSF for many years.
I remember years ago when I
visited the simulation lab run by Dr. Cooper in Massachusetts. I stood behind the glass and watched the
physicians as they did “surgery” on mannequins.
The person behind the glass with me would make things go wrong so the anesthesiologist
would have to find the problem. I still
remember that it was a mucous plug clogging the breathing tube. The young physician couldn’t find the
problem. In this case, the patient would
have died if it were real. But it wasn’t
real – no one died and I bet that doctor never made that mistake again. This is what they do daily there – save lives
through education in one very important area.
Dr. Cooper received the
highest honor from his colleagues at the The American Society of Anesthesiologists, The Distinguished Service Award. It’s my personal honor knowing him all these
years and knowing what an impact he has made in safe patient care. Congratulations Dr. Cooper on this
recognition. I wish it could have come
from me!
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