[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 40 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 7, 2005
Ms. Landrieu (for herself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Lieberman,
Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Jeffords, Ms. Collins,
and Mr. Salazar) submitted the following resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
June 22, 2005
Committee discharged; considered and agreed to
_______________________________________________________________________
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 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.
<all>