This WHO Surgical Safety Checklist helps surgical teams reduce errors and complications by aligning on critical steps before anesthesia, before incision, and before the patient leaves the operating room. It prompts verification of patient identity, procedure, site marking, anesthesia machine and medication checks, pulse oximetry, allergy status, airway risk, and expected blood loss. The team confirms introductions, planned procedure, incision site, timely antibiotic prophylaxis, sterility, equipment readiness, and essential imaging. Before sign out, nurses confirm counts, specimen labeling, equipment issues, and the team aligns on recovery concerns. Customize this template to fit local practice and strengthen teamwork and communication.
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