The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory editors have received five script entries for the Time-Out in the OR Competition (reprinted in an article in the March 2009 issue of the Advisory). For the first round, the editors will accept open-ended review and comment from all who wish to do so. The editors may publish some of the critiques in the second round, but will not identify any reviewers. The reviewers may make a general comment on any script or comment on any parts of any scripts, positively or negatively, but should specifically consider at least three issues: (1) compliance with the time-out elements of the Joint Commission Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure and Wrong Person Surgery™ intended to prevent wrong-site surgery; (2) active participation of all the important members of the operating team; and (3) efficiency. Efficiency will be defined as the length of time involved in performing the script.

Please note that the Time-Out in the OR Competition includes only the parts of a time-out script that identify the patient, procedure, and side or site of the procedure. Implant availability, antibiotic administration, allergies, and other additions to the Universal Protocol not related to preventing wrong-site surgery have been eliminated from the time-out scripts. Elements of the time-out that involve confirmation or documentation not based on conversation have also been eliminated. Please send your reviews and comments on any or all components of any or all scripts electronically to the editor at jclarke@ecri.org. An electronic copy of the scripts can be obtained below (please right-click on the link and select "save target as" to download a copy for review). Please ensure that you link comments to specific scripts by their numbers. This is your chance to help shape robust scripts for time-outs.