Executive Summary Checklist
In order to establish a program to eliminate arterial and venous Air Embolism (AE), an implementation plan with the following actionable steps is recommended. These core action items and prevention strategies represent an interdisciplinary, best practice approach:
- Hospital governance and senior administrative leadership must champion efforts in raising awareness of the incidence and risks of AE, along with best prevention strategy measures.
Healthcare leadership should support the design and implementation of standards and provider training programs for AE risk reduction by:
- Accurately stratifying risk by ensuring that providers perform an AE Risk Assessment.
- Measure appropriate quality indicators related to AE, to close performance gap.
- Complete an in-depth chart review for in-hospital air embolism events to identify opportunities for improvement, and act on the lessons learned from that review.
- Adhere to AE best practices from national organizations.
- Ensure that healthcare professionals receive annual training on AE policies and processes.
Assess patient-specific increased risk for AE among patients with the following:
- Known presence of right-to-left shunt anatomy, including patent foramen ovale (PFO), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), atrial septal defect (ASD), etc.
- Requirements for large volumes of intravenous fluids, or rapid infusions using pressurized systems (e.g., major trauma surgery).
- Presence of or need for central venous access of any type.
- High-Risk surgical procedure or surgery in a high-risk position (surgery site above heart).
- Educate patients and families on AE risks, complications, signs and symptoms.
- Select technologies that reduce incidence of AE by preventing and detecting air in intravenous access lines (e.g., Clearline®).
- Implement an EHR with decision making support to ensure that every patient has an AE prevention and detection plan in place at all times during hospitalization.