Surgical Error


One study estimates between 1,300 and 2,700 wrong-side/wrong-site, wrong-procedure/wrong-patient events (WSPEs) occur in U.S. hospitals every year.

Why do they happen? Two patients with the same name can be mistaken for one another.  Or a patient’s surgical site can be marked on the wrong limb or wrong side of the body. Surgical tools and sponges are accidentally left behind sometimes (in 1 out of every 1,500 abdominal surgeries in fact).

Surgical errors can be deadly:10% of patients who die within 90 days of surgery do so because of a preventable error. The average cost of these types of errors is $40,323 and results in about 9.4 more days in the hospital.

Patients and their family member advocates have the power to eliminate these tragedies.  Follow our simple, common-sense ideas to prevent surgical errors from happening to you or someone you love.  If you know someone who is scheduled for surgery, be a friend and share our checklist today.

For more information about preventing surgical errors, visit this helpful page from the American College of Surgeons.

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  • What’s the Harm in Health Care?

    One-third of all hospital patients are harmed or killed by accident every year in American hospitals -- about 13 million patients.


    Preventable hospital accidents claim almost 300,000 lives -- equal to 3 jets crashing every single day of the year in America, with no survivors.


    Most of these deaths and injury are among older patients, and most result from a strained health care system seriously short on nurses and other critical resources.

  • Our Solution

    CampaignZERO offers simple explanations about how common hospital hazards occur and easy checklists to help families safeguard their loved ones' care in the hospital.

  • Why Checklists for Families?

    Every patient needs a family member or friend with them in the hospital -- yet few of us are prepared for this important role.


    Our simple little checklists can be a big help. Bookmark and Share

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