[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 469 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 469

Supporting the goals and ideas of National Time Out Day to promote the 
    adoption of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare 
    Organizations' universal protocol for preventing errors in the 
                            operating room.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 16, 2004

Ms. Landrieu (for herself, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Santorum) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Supporting the goals and ideas of National Time Out Day to promote the 
    adoption of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare 
    Organizations' universal protocol for preventing errors in the 
                            operating room.

Whereas according to an Institute of Medicine report entitled ``To Err is Human: 
        Building a Safer Health System'', published in 2000, between 44,000 and 
        98,000 hospitalized people in the United States die each year due to 
        medical errors, and untold thousands more suffer injury or illness as a 
        result of preventable errors;
Whereas there are more than 40,000,000 inpatient surgery procedures and 
        31,000,000 outpatient surgery procedures performed annually in the 
        United States;
Whereas for the first time, nurses, surgeons, and hospitals throughout the 
        country are being required by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of 
        Healthcare Organizations to adopt a common set of operating room 
        procedures in order to help curb the alarming number of deaths and 
        injuries due to medical errors;
Whereas the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has 
        developed a universal protocol, endorsed by more than 50 national 
        healthcare organizations, which calls for surgical teams to call a 
        ``time out'' before surgeries begin in order to verify the patient's 
        identity, the procedure to be performed, and the site of the procedure;
Whereas 4,579 accredited hospitals, 1,261 ambulatory care facilities, and 131 
        accredited office-based surgery centers will be required by the Joint 
        Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations to adopt the 
        universal protocol beginning July 1, 2004;
Whereas the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses has created an 
        Internet website and distributed 55,000 tool kits to healthcare 
        professionals throughout the country to assist them in implementing the 
        universal protocol; and
Whereas the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, the Joint Commission 
        on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the American College of 
        Surgeons, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American 
        Hospital Association, and the American Society for Healthcare Risk 
        Management are celebrating National Time Out Day on June 23, 2004, to 
        promote the adoption of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of 
        Healthcare Organizations' universal protocol for preventing errors in 
        the operating room: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the goals and ideas of National Time Out Day, 
        as designated by the Association of periOperative Registered 
        Nurses and endorsed by the American College of Surgeons, the 
        American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Hospital 
        Association, and the American Society for Healthcare Risk 
        Management, to promote the adoption of the Joint Commission on 
        Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' universal protocol 
        for preventing errors in the operating room; and
            (2) congratulates perioperative nurses and representatives 
        of surgical teams for working together to reduce medical errors 
        to ensure the improved health and safety of surgical patients.
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