Prophylactic cannula cricothyroidotomy and percutaneous oxygen insufflation with the Rapid-O2®: A simple and effective tool for enhancing safety in difficult airway management.

Prophylactic cannula cricothyroidotomy is a recognised technique for actual or potential difficult airway management, where it confers a number of technical and non-technical benefits. Oxygenation with this technique is traditionally achieved by way of pressure-regulated, high flow jet ventilation and requires specialised equipment and considerable expertise for safe use, neither of which are always readily available. As an alternative, we describe the management of two patients with progressive upper airway obstruction in whom prophylactic cannula cricothyroidotomy and oxygen insufflation were performed using equipment which we consider is safer, widely available and already familiar to most anaesthetists throughout Australia.

A proposed system for standardization of colour-coding stages of escalating criticality in clinical incidents.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article proposes a standardized framework for colour-coding states of criticality in clinical situations and their respective escalated responses. RECENT FINDINGS: The first level is a green zone representing a 'safe' space (to proceed), where any hazards are controlled, latent or undetectable. The second is an amber zone, where hazards are known to be present, but one can proceed with caution and increased vigilance, and where defences are used to prevent escalation to a crisis. In the red phase -- a state of crisis -- a hazard is realized, clear and present. This is a time to decide what actions are required to mitigate the threat. Next, a blue phase refers to a life-threatening emergency, where the system is unstable, harm is evident and compounding upon itself, and immediate rescue action is needed to avert an irreversible outcome. Finally, dark grey represents the aftermath, where the situation has either stabilized or progressed to its final outcome, a time to reflect and learn. SUMMARY: A standardized colour-coding system for assessing and responding to escalating levels of criticality has implications for clinical practice and adverse event reporting systems.

e-Learning in regional anesthesia.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To explore the role and impact of e-learning technologies on regional anesthesia. RECENT FINDINGS: 21st century technologies, such as 'smart' medical appliances, personal computers, sophisticated apps, the ubiquitous Internet, and online 'e-learning' curricula, are having a powerful impact on anesthesia training: when we learn, what we learn, and how we learn. But is 'new' necessarily 'better'? The answer will result from the application of developments in IT technology through the current vision of architects of future anesthesia training programs. This narrative review aims to summarize the recent developments in anesthesia e-learning, and to forecast trends using regional anesthesia as an example. SUMMARY: The review offers some recommendations to ensure that the blessings promised to human learning by this 'Brave New Cyberworld' do not become its nemesis.

Safety Analysis of 13 Suspicious Deaths in Intensive Care: Ergonomics and Forensic Approach Compared.

OBJECTIVES: Thirteen suspicious deaths occurred in an intensive care unit of Tuscany, Italy, in 2015. All patients developed sudden unexplained coagulopathy leading to severe bleeding. None of them had been prescribed heparin, but supertherapeutic concentrations of heparin were found. After a nurse was arrested on suspicion of murdering Human Factor and Ergonomics (HF/E) experts received a mandate to identify system failures. According to the judgment of the Court of First Instance on April 2019, the nurse was found guilty. METHODS: The HF/E group used a two-pronged safety analysis: understanding the conditions in which the healthcare practitioners were working in the period when the suspicious deaths emerged and reviewing the clinical records. RESULTS: Fourteen patients admitted to the intensive care unit in 2014 and 2015 were selected on the basis of markedly abnormal coagulation tests (n = 13) or a family member's complaint (n = 1). In 13 cases, a massive, abrupt hemorrhage in the presence of an unexpected abnormality of coagulation tests occurred, whereas the fourteenth patient had the only prolongation of coagulation markers without bleeding. All cases examined classified as adverse events related to a coagulation disorder. Human factor and ergonomics analysis identified a number of latent and active failures that contributed to the event and provided a set of important recommendations for safety improvement. CONCLUSIONS: When presented with a manifest, albeit suspected, wrongdoing with lethal consequences for patients, forensic investigators and safety investigators have distinctly different goals and methods. We believe that a memorandum of understanding between HF/E and forensic investigative teams provides an operative framework for allowing co-existence and fosters collaboration. The pursuit of safe care as a new emerging right for patients and balancing the right to legal justice with the right to safer healthcare merit further investigation and discussion.

The Bowtie diagram: a simple tool for analysis and planning in anesthesia.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose is to show the advantages of a Bowtie diagram as a versatile tool for displaying and understanding the evolvement and management of critical incidents. RECENT FINDINGS: The Bowtie diagram has been used recently in anesthesia to depict critical incidents having been used in high-risk industries for several decades. This diagram displays the progression from latent factors to potential harm in five steps. SUMMARY: The Bowtie diagram combines the features of a fault tree and an event tree with the adverse event, known as the Top Event separating the two sections. The fault tree is similar in concept to a Swiss Cheese diagram and the event tree similar in concept to an emergency management algorithm. Preventive barriers and escalation measures are used to detect and trap abnormal states. If these fail, the event proceeds to a crisis, leading to the Top Event, a time for making decisions. A recovery state follows, which depicts an emergency state mandating immediate life or limb-saving management to recover from the crisis. Finally, in the aftermath state, a time for reflection and learning, ultimate outcomes are shown in the right-hand column. VIDEO ABSTRACT: The Bowtie Diagram. Designed and created by Yasmin Endlich, Martin D. Culwick and Stavros N. Prineas, http://links.lww.com/COAN/A68.