Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Use of a Central Venous Line for Fluids, Drugs and Nutrient Administration in a Mouse Model of Critical Illness
Published on: May 2, 2017
Failure mode and effects analysis application to critical care medicine
Beau Duwe1, Barry D Fuchs, John Hansen-Flaschen
1Department of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 873 Maloney Building, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Abstract:
In July 2001, the United States Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health care Organizations adopted a new leadership standard that requires department heads in health care organizations to perform at least one Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) every year. This proactive approach to error prevention has proven to be highly effective in other industries, notably aerospace, but remains untested in acute care hospitals. For several reasons, the intensive care unit (ICU) potentially is an attractive setting for early adoption of FMEA; however, successful implementation of FMEA in ICUs is likely to require strong, effective leadership and a sustained commitment to prevent errors that may have occurred rarely or never before in the local setting. This article describes FMEA in relation to critical care medicine and reviews some of the attractive features together with several potential pitfalls that are associated with this approach to error prevention in ICUs.
Related Concept Videos
Methods of Documentation VI: Case Management Model
For example, a patient with a chronic illness...
Impact of Pharmacokinetic–Pharmacodynamic Models: Regulatory Decisions
Pharmacodynamic Models: Linear Concentration–Effect Model
Acute Respiratory Failure-III
