Anesthesia Patient Safety Podcast

SOS is more than a maritime relic. It is proof that when people agree on a shared signal, they move faster, coordinate better, and save lives. That is the challenge we wrestle with from the 2026 APSF Stoelting Conference.  Healthcare is full of alarms, monitors, checklists, risk scores, and AI predictions, but we still struggle to agree on which safety signals truly matter, what they mean, and what we are supposed to do next to prevent harm across the perioperative continuum. This is the first part of our series on the 2026 APSF Stoelting Conference.

We dig into a barrier that quietly slows progress: mixing up quality and patient safety. From the patient’s view, quality asks whether care meets best practice, while safety is simpler and more urgent: “Please don’t harm me.” Real patient safety improvement leans on safety science, systems thinking, resilience, psychological safety, and human factors engineering. One memorable example makes it painfully concrete: a defibrillator design that can be accidentally powered off during a cardiac arrest, forcing a multi-minute reboot when seconds determine survival. The takeaway is clear: safer design beats another training module.

Then we zoom out to the 30,000-foot problem of perioperative mortality. Intraoperative deaths are now rare, but postoperative mortality remains common, with threats like myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery, acute kidney injury, and respiratory complications. We talk about why intermittent ward vital signs miss dangerous hypoxemia and hypotension, why opioids (especially with sedatives) amplify risk, and why continuous vital sign monitoring and stronger postoperative medical management may be the next big step in anesthesia patient safety.

We wrap by connecting quality, safety, and revenue through analytics and clinical AI, including risk stratification and targeted post-discharge follow-up for high-risk patients. Subscribe for more Stoelting Conference highlights, share this with a colleague, and leave a review so more perioperative teams can find the tools to keep patients safe.
For show notes & transcript, visit our episode page at apsf.org: https://www.apsf.org/podcast/327-sos-signals-for-perioperative-safety-stoelting-conference-series-part-1/
© 2026, The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation

Eye pain in the PACU can trigger a reflex page to ophthalmology, but that reflex is not always the safest or most efficient choice. We provide considerations for perioperative corneal abrasions including why most are superficial epithelial injuries that heal quickly and how an anesthesia-led protocol can deliver fast relief without missing the rare dangerous presentation. If you’ve been unsure when a consult is truly necessary, this conversation gives you a practical, defensible path forward.

We revisit a step-by-step PACU workflow: recognize symptoms early, perform a focused eye exam, assess for visual acuity changes, and use fluorescein staining with cobalt blue light to confirm a defect. We also share the ophthalmologist perspective on “uncomplicated” corneal abrasion management, including lubrication, antibiotic ointment options, and why routine consults can delay discharge, raise costs, and strain resources. The most important piece is the safety net: clear escalation triggers such as significantly reduced visual acuity, worsening or persistent pain, failure to heal, corneal infiltrate or ulceration, fixed pupil, hyphema or hypopyon, suspected foreign body or penetrating injury, stromal involvement, or dendritic staining. 

Then we pivot to medication safety and smart infusion pumps, spotlighting a real-world rollout of Baxter Novum syringe pumps in high-turnover procedural areas. We discuss how usability issues can suppress smart pump compliance, why human factors engineering matters, and how a team used AI to summarize narrative survey feedback into actionable themes. If you care about high-value perioperative care, patient safety protocols, and devices that actually work under pressure, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a review with the one change you want to bring to your PACU or OR.
For show notes & transcript, visit our episode page at apsf.org: https://www.apsf.org/podcast/326-corneal-abrasions-after-surgery/
© 2026, The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation

A patient gets harmed, everyone wants answers, and the system too often responds with blame, silence, or a slow-moving inquiry that arrives years after the frontline has moved on. Today, we are hosting a special podcast takeover show from The Medical Safety Podcast. 
Hosted by Dr. Adam Shehata (former professional pilot turned physician) and Dr. Amir Hamid (anesthetist and emergency medicine physician), The Medical Safety Podcast focuses on how to improve our healthcare system by integrating human factors into systems safety, including medical incident investigation and proactive safety measures. 
This is Episode 10 where Adam and Amir discuss the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) - UK’s independent aviation-style investigatory body for medical incidents with their CEO, Dr. Rosie Benneyworth.
We hope that you will subscribe to The Medical Safety Podcast for more conversations about healthcare systems improvement and patient safety.
If you care about patient safety, medical incident investigation, healthcare systems improvement, and practical human factors insights, subscribe, share this episode with a colleague, and leave a review so more teams can build safer systems.
For show notes & transcript, visit our episode page at apsf.org: https://www.apsf.org/podcast/325-apsf-podcast-takeover-the-hssib-with-ceo-dr-rosie-benneyworth/
© 2026, The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation

Your airway cart might look fully stocked, but one quiet change can reshape an entire intubation: a different endotracheal tube brand, a new material formulation, a redesigned cuff, or changes in diameter measurements. We take a close, practical look at endotracheal tube materials and design, and why supply chain instability and product discontinuations can turn a “routine” device into a patient safety risk, particularly for neonates, infants, and other pediatric patients where millimeters matter.

We break down what actually varies between endotracheal tubes that share the same labeled size: PVC construction and the move away from DEHP, changes in flexibility, and how internal diameter, wall thickness, and manufacturing variability can increase resistance and impair ventilation. We also dig into cuffed endotracheal tubes and why there is no universal cuff standard. Cuff shape, cuff material, and contact surface area can change leak behavior, micro-aspiration risk, and the seal you rely on. Then we zoom in on failure points clinicians can miss, including pilot balloon and pilot line defects, the ability to pass a suction catheter in tiny cuffed tubes, distal tip designs that can deform, and when the presence or absence of a Murphy eye can matter in an emergency.

To close, we read and reflect on a published statement responding to medication errors that harmed patients, reinforcing an essential distinction: a wrong drug or wrong route error is not the same thing as spinal anesthesia being unsafe. We highlight system safeguards that prevent neuraxial medication errors, including standardized labeling, separation of high-alert meds, and technology-assisted verification.

Subscribe for more anesthesia patient safety deep dives, share this with a colleague who manages airways, and leave a review so more clinicians can find the show. What ET tube check has saved you from trouble?
For show notes & transcript, visit our episode page at apsf.org: https://www.apsf.org/podcast/324-endotracheal-tubes-are-not-all-the-same/
© 2026, The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation

Your first day in anesthesia can be overwhelming with so many numbers, dials, alarms, and decisions that all land at once, and the stakes are high. We sit down with Dr. Lahiru Amaratanga to ask a simple question with big implications for anesthesia patient safety: how can technology make clinicians learn faster without losing the human touch that keeps patients safe?

We dig into practical education innovation, starting with AI coaching and moving toward a “trainee dashboard” that could track real clinical experience like intubations, IV cannulation attempts, and areas that need deliberate practice. We talk about why this kind of visibility can help educators teach with confidence, reduce awkwardness for learners, and support competency-based medical education using spaced learning, mobile learning, and smart reminders. The goal is not more content, but better learning trajectories that translate into safer decisions in the OR.

Then we widen the lens to teamwork and global safety. We reflect on what we can learn from high-performing day-to-day teams and surgeon anesthetist dyads, and why stable collaboration may improve outcomes. From an international anesthesia perspective, we highlight the need for minimal universal anesthesia monitoring standards and ask whether digital education closes the gap for low resource settings or risks widening it if new tools stay unaffordable.

If you care about safer anesthesia care, smarter clinical training, and education that actually changes practice, listen now and share this with a colleague. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what innovation would most improve safety where you work.
For show notes & transcript, visit our episode page at apsf.org: https://www.apsf.org/podcast/323-how-technology-can-speed-training-and-strengthen-anesthesia-patient-safety/
© 2026, The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation