AQI activates Anesthesia Incident Reporting System to improve patient safety

The Anesthesia Quality Institute (AQI) has activated the first nationwide system to collect individual adverse events from anesthesia, pain management and perioperative care. The system, known as the Anesthesia Incident Reporting System (AIRS), will obtain information on unintended events to help improve patient safety.

"One great thing about AIRS is that it allows any anesthesia provider to report any unintended event related to anesthesia or pain management. Such events may include anaphylactic reactions, device malfunctions, medication side effects, unusual vascular or neurologic injuries, and complications of electronic health care records," said AQI Executive Director and trauma anesthesiologist Richard P. Dutton, M.D., M.B.A.

AQI plans to use data from AIRS in two ways:
1. Interesting cases will be used for educational purposes including deidentified case presentations and learning discussions.
2. All cases will be used to identify emerging trends in anesthesia patient safety. Such trends may be related to new medications and techniques, and the evolution of patient risk factors.

"AIRS will not only help anesthesia providers learn about and prevent adverse anesthesia events from occurring, but it also will provide safer and better quality care for patients who undergo anesthesia," said Dr. Dutton. "Over the past 25 years, anesthesia-deaths have fallen dramatically due to patient safety initiatives and innovations like AIRS. We hope to continue this trend."