Purpose: This article will define standards, how they are developed and applied and how they impact on the day to day practice of clinicians.
Source: CSA-International, International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC), Organization for International Standardization (ISO).
Principal findings: The safety record of the practice of anesthesia has improved over the past 20 yr. This has been brought about by the increase in the knowledge base of physiology and pharmacology, improvements in anesthetic drugs and other medications and through the use of better equipment. However, the introduction of new equipment and the building of new health care facilities has also introduced risks to patient safety. These risks have been created by oversights in design, mistakes in equipment manufacture or facility construction and the need to produce a usable product for the price the health care system can afford. After the anesthetic disasters of the 1960s and 1970s, the need for minimum standards for safety in the design and construction of healthcare facilities and medical equipment were recognized. Canadian anesthesiologists were at the forefront in the development of these standards, and still today members of the Canadian Anesthesiologist's Society are key contributors to the development of both National and International standards.
Conclusion: Equipment and facility standards have helped improve patient safety over the past 20 yr. However, anesthesiologists need to encourage their governmental regulatory bodies to encourage manufacturer compliance with specific standards.