Safety in Anesthesia: Latin American Perspective

Abstract

This review intends to broadly illustrate the current anesthesia safety issues in Latin America, discussing the residency training schemes, anesthesia workforce shortages, equipment shortages, and safety initiatives in Latin America that include minimum standards and adverse event reporting systems. Latin America’s distinction is that of a continent of major contrasts which poses major difficulties as quality of anesthesia care ranges between that of high-income countries to that of very low income nations. A major effort to attenuate these is the creation and adoption of mandatory national standards that aim to guarantee that even in the worst conditions, minimal safety strategies are met to safeguard patients. Colombia’s and Brazil’s anesthesia societies have been at the forefront in Latin America in developing strategies to promote anesthesia safety. The creation, promotion, and adoption of Minimal Standards has been key to improve anesthesia safety in the continent.