A team of clinical experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a Surgical Safety Checklist that could be used in any surgical setting world wide to improve patient outcomes.  In the fall of 2008, the Calais Regional Hospital Surgery and Anesthesia Departments introduced the Surgical Safety Checklist as part of its operating room procedures.  This quality improvement exercise was initiated through participation in a program with Maine Medical Center called “Keeping Maine in Step”.  As a follow up to this event, the Departments registered in March 2009 as a participant in the national effort, called Sprint, to test the Checklist.  The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) proposed the nationwide Sprint for the Surgical Safety Checklist by challenging every hospital in the U.S. to test the Checklist at least one time with one operating team before April 1, 2009. 
 
The Checklist was designed as a tool to improve communication and the items included are considered the most widely applicable in all surgical settings (not just those in the US).  The one-page checklist itemizes essential safety steps that surgical teams should do at three stages of surgery:  before induction of anesthesia, before skin incision, and before the patient leaves the operating room.  “The checklist is easily adapted for surgical cases and prevents patients from getting into a surgical procedure until it’s absolutely safe to do so,” states Michael Bodkin, RN, CRH Surgery Department Nurse Manager.
 
According to an article published in the January 14, 2009 online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, a collection of hospitals in eight cities around the globe successfully demonstrated that use of the Checklist during major operations can lower the incidence of deaths and complications by more than one third. Even more dramatically, inpatient deaths following major operations fell by more than 40 percent with implementation of the checklist.
 
The implementation and use of the Surgical Checklist is just one example of Calais Regional Hospital staff working to improve patient safety.  “Using a tool such as the Checklist is a perfect example of a small change, requiring minimal resources, making an immediate impact on patient safety and care,” stated Dr. Karen Hadam, CRH Anesthiologist.  “The Surgical Checklist is an opportunity for improvement in consistency.  It helps the entire surgical team know what to expect and fosters communication about concerns and ways to improve and help each other.”  Once the surgical teams have become familiar with the checklist, it requires very little extra time to perform, plus may even save time by ensuring better coordination between the teams and minimizing slowdowns for tasks like retrieval of additional equipment.
 
Calais Regional Hospital was part of 622 hospitals nationwide to take part in the Surgical Checklist Sprint effort and one of four hospitals in Maine to participate.