The ABCs of Patient Safety, created by the AFMS 3rd Medical Group.

1. 3rd Medical Group
ABCs of Patient Safety
Accountability comes from teamwork within our departments.
Briefs, Huddles and Debriefs help your team to communicate more effectively.
Close call reports identify weaknesses in our processes
DESC IT helps to describe the situation, express concern, suggest alternatives, define
consequences and obtain consensus.
Effectively communicate within & across teams & units so everyone knows what’s going on.
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis proactively looks at high-risk processes for failure points.
Getting everyone on the same page is sharing a mental model.
Hand washing helps prevent the spread of healthcare associated infections.
I’M SAFE today, are you?
Joint Commission/Health Services Inspection is everyone’s “firestarter”
Knowledge is the key to making our patients safer.
Listen to your patient, their families and other staff members with both ears.
Make the effort during every shift to offer or ask for help; it will make your team better.
Needle-less systems help prevent blood borne exposures.
Opportunities abound for keeping our patients safe.
Patient Safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Question any order that seems unclear.
Root cause analysis digs down to find out what happened during an incident.
Shift reviews help teams acknowledge everyone’s contributions.
Teamwork is the key to keeping our patients safe.
Universal Protocols ensures the correct site, patient and procedure happen every time.
VORB = “Verbal Order Read Back.”
We’re all in this together.
X-ray vision will help identify process improvements.
You can and do make a difference in your patient’s lives.
Zone in on a process weakness rather than focusing on the
person involved.