Today, over 77,000 operating rooms worldwide have to make do without pulse oximeters to monitor patients. This means tens of thousands of lives are lost every year: without adequate monitoring, a routine operation can be fatal.
The number of operating theatres working without pulse oximetry ranges from 41% in Latin America, to 49% in south Asia, to 70% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile the number of surgical procedures is on the rise – did you know there are now more surgical procedures performed each year than there are babies born?
Our studies indicate that by closing this gap and increasing the use of the Surgical Safety Checklist worldwide, we can cut death rates by half.
The World Health Organization recognized the critical importance of universal access to pulse oximetry in their Second Global Patient Safety Challenge (pulse oximetry is item number 4 on the Checklist).
That is why we have developed Lifebox, a major international initiative to combat the global pulse oximetry gap. By providing low-cost, robust oximeters and pulse oximetry education we can give anaesthesia providers the tools and training they need to make surgery safer.
Share