Surgeons Statement

ST-51

Prevention of foreign body retention requires good communication among perioperative personnel and the consistent application of reliable and standardized processes of care.

Changes in shifts and multiple nursing team members during surgery may use the information collected automatically in the ORLocate^® and avoid one of the most cited causes of RSIs.

ST-51

Recommendations to prevent the retention of sponges, sharps, instruments and other designated miscellaneous items include:

o employment of X-ray or other technology (e.g., radiofrequency detection, bar coding) as indicated, to ensure there is no unintended item remaining in the operative field

The ORLocate^® OR locator can be activated upon request and used if a procedure is complete with a non-reconciliation of the system, i.e. items are identified as not located.

ST-51

Documentation should include, but not be limited to: results of surgical item counts, notification of the surgical team members, instruments or items intentionally left as packing, and actions taken if count discrepancies occur.

The extensive and detailed documentation available in the ORLocate^® allows for the inclusion of all the detailed information otherwise entered manually.

ST-51

Surgical facilities must provide resources to ensure that necessary equipment and personnel are available to support these perioperative surgical safety measures.

In light of available research that emphasizes the challenges in the current process, implementing the system allows leadership of surgical facilities to meet these challenges.