Pit Stop

A Ferrari team has taught surgeons a thing or two about efficiency and error elimination.

Spring 2007

Hans Neleman/Getty Images

DURING A FORMULA ONE PIT STOP,

there’s no room for mistakes as the crew pitches in with practiced precision. Surgeons at London’s Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, after calling in a Ferrari team for a critique, devised a protocol to smooth the transition from operating room to intensive care unit, when a forgotten message about a vital statistic or an unprepared piece of equipment could cost a patient’s life. The changes, ranging from banning inessential chatter to disconnecting wires in a specific order, have noticeably cut errors.

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