Error Management

Paper Summary:

The writer notes that in the article, 'On Error Management: Lessons from Aviation', the author makes a direct comparison between those in the field of aviation and those in the medical field. He notes that both doctors and pilots operate in similarly complex environments. The writer points out that both experience a variety of risk levels dependent on the environment and, both are committed to safety. However, there are many differences between the two professions. In this essay, the writer discusses the article. The writer concludes that the aviation industry not only tries to learn from mistakes, but also tries to predict ways to prevent mistakes before they happen, which is a valuable lesson that industries, such as the medical profession, could learn from.

Outline:
Summary of the Article
Personal Critique and Lessons Learned from the Article
References

From the Paper:

"In both professions, human error is a major factor in accidents. Physicians and pilots alike suffer from fatigue, excessive workload, lack of communication, imperfect information processing, and flawed decision making. Both fields also require teamwork to be successful, and ineffective teamwork, sometimes due to interpersonal conflicts amongst team members, can lead to disaster, in the case of aviation, or patient death, in the case of the medical profession. However, unlike the medical profession, aviation utilizes their mistakes as a learning tool to prevent future accidents. Error management strategies allow aviation to discover the nature of what conditions precipitated an accident, and how best to prevent this error from happening again. Helmreich describes lessons that can be learned from the aviation industry and be applied to the medical field."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Helmreich, R. "On error management: Lessons from aviation." BMJ 320 (2000, Mar 18): pp. 781-785. September 26, 2006 <http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/320/7237/781?ijkey=C.kPjYhV51IB>.

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