[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 84 (Wednesday, June 22, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S7199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEAS OF NATIONAL TIME OUT DAY

  Mr. FRIST. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the HELP 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 40, and 
the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 40) 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.

  There being no objection the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the resolution and preamble be 
agreed to en bloc, and motions to reconsider be laid on the table en 
bloc, and that any statements be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 40) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                               S. Res. 40

       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 
     were 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 celebrate National Time Out Day on June 22, 2005, 
     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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