The anesthesia delivery system rarely causes patient injuries or deaths. When complications do occur, it's much more likely that user error was the reason that the delivery system failed (see "What the Closed Claims Project Can Tell Us" on page 24). That may sound like bad news, but it means that we can prevent many, if not most, delivery-system-related complications. The key? Ensuring that anesthesia providers and other OR staff alike understand and properly use the many components of the anesthesia delivery system ' the anesthesia machine, vaporizers, breathing system, ventilator and waste gas scavenging system.