[Development of communication tool for patient safety ("Briefing"). Experience in a trauma and emergency intensive...

To validate a safety tool used in high-risk sectors (safety briefing) in intensive care medicine.

A prospective, observational and analytical study was carried out.

Trauma and emergency intensive care unit in a tertiary hospital.

Patients with severe trauma (Injury Severity Score ISS≥16).

Documentation of incidents related to patient safety (PS).

Patients characteristics, state of the Unit, patient safety incidents, aspects of the tool (SP) and safety culture impact.

We included 441 patients (75.15% males, mean age 39.9±17.5 years), with blunt trauma in 89% and a 10.5% mortality rate. The tool was applied in 586 out of 798 possible shifts (73.4%), and documented 942 events (2.20 incidents per patient). The incidents were more frequently associated with medication (20.7%), devices (placement 4.03%, and maintenance 17.8%) and airway and mechanical ventilation (MV) (17.09%). A correlation was established between the occurrence of incidents and the characteristics of the patient (higher Injury Severity Score, presence of MV, and continuous renal replacement therapies) and the status of the Unit (more than 6 patients per shift out of 8 possible, and holiday period). The tool significantly influenced different aspects of the safety culture of the unit (communication frequency, number of events, punitive loss and active work in PS).

Safety briefing is a tool for the documentation of incidents that is simple and easy to use, and is useful for implementing improvements and in influencing safety culture.