Faulty alarms, sharps injuries, retained instruments and surgical fires lead the ECRI Institute’s list of the "Top 10 Health Technology Hazards" for 2008. The annual list is based on the institute’s investigations of medical device-related incidents throughout the year and information from ECRI’s database of reported device problems.
Here are ECRI’s top 10 technology hazards, listed in order of importance, plus some links to recent OSM articles with advice on how to prevent them:
1. Alarm hazards, such as faulty or confusing alarms on patient monitors, ventilators, dialysis units and other devices.
2. Needlesticks and other sharps-related injuries.
3. Air embolism from contrast media injectors.
4. Retained devices and fragments. ECRI recommends adherence to proper surgical count procedures to prevent this hazard.
5. Surgical fires.
6. Anesthesia hazards, particularly those caused by improper inspection of anesthesia devices.
7. Misleading device displays.
8. CT radiation exposure.
9. MR imaging burns.
10. Burns from fiberoptic light sources found on endoscopes, retractors, headlamps and other devices.
See the full article from ECRI for more information about these hazards and how to avoid them.
—Irene Tsikitas
