Greg Swarbrick

This series of 3 articles rewards careful reading and re-reading. It's helpful to see how lessons from other work contexts (aviation, maritime etc.) may be applied to healthcare - and many of the same principles apply and are valid, from decision-making by primary actors (pilots or surgeons) to the impacts of fatigue, how rules are followed or not followed and potential consequences of the latter, and even how we understand safety and risk. Having had 10+ years in both aviation and now healthcare, I think there's still a lot of value in healthcare learning lessons from how safety is managed in aviation, where I experienced a forensically dispassionate examination of causes and effects, and a keenness to routinely collect, report and share all relevant information and data-points.