The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right

“Over the course of a year of office practice—which, by definition, excludes the patients seen in the hospital—physicians each evaluated an average of 250 different primary diseases and conditions.”

The data presented here provides the scope of situations that surgeons and other hospital personnel deal with on a yearly basis. In many ways, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right is an argument in favor of checklists in operating rooms, and data like this supports the claims made in the book.

“He was, we liked to imagine, a simple machine in our hands. But he wasn’t, of course. It was as if we had gained a steering wheel and a few gauges and controls, but on a runaway 18-wheeler hurtling down a mountain.”

Atul Gawande is describing a patient named Anthony DeFilippo who suffered a hemorrhage following a surgery. Gawande’s team worked to stabilize the patient, and the quote highlights Gawande’s ability to use metaphor. The metaphor of an 18-wheeler reinforces the way care providers focus on individual tasks in order to remain calm under pressure.

“We continue to have upwards of 150,000 deaths following surgery every year—more than three times the number of road traffic fatalities. Moreover, research has consistently showed that at least half our deaths and major complications are avoidable.”

Once again, Gawande uses data to provide context for readers. This quote is alarming for both those in his field and those unfamiliar with the subject of surgical complications. It also supports Gawande’s purpose for the book, which is to make a compelling argument in favor of implementing checklists as part of the surgical procedure.