Sentinel Events

Reportable to the JCAHO

• Patient death, paralysis, coma, or other major permanent loss of function associated with a medication error.

• A patient suicide in a setting where the patient is housed around the clock, including a suicide following elopement (unauthorized departure) from such a setting.

• Any elopement of a patient from an around-the-clock care setting resulting in a temporally related death (suicide or homicide), or major permanent loss of function.

• Any procedure performed on the wrong patient, wrong side of the body, or wrong organ.

• Any intrapartum (birth-related) maternal death.

• Any perinatal death unrelated to a congenital condition in an infant having a birth weight greater than 2,500 grams.

• Assault, homicide, or other crime resulting in patient death or major permanent loss of function.

Not reportable to the JCAHO

• Any near miss.

• Medication errors that do not result in death or major permanent loss of function.

• Full return of limb or bodily function to the same level as prior to the adverse event by discharge or within two weeks of the initial loss of said function.

• Any sentinel event that has not affected a recipient of care.

• A death or loss of function following a discharge against medical advice.

• Unsuccessful suicide attempts.

• Unintentionally retained foreign body without major permanent loss of function.

• Minor degrees of hemolysis with no clinical sequelae.