RESPOND intervention: protocol for a cluster-randomized stepped-wedge trial of a human factors intervention to reduce failure to rescue in emergency general surgery

Healthcare is, by its nature, a dangerous activity. It involves subjecting humans whose bodies (or minds) are malfunctioning to a range of interventions including chemicals, knives, and radiation of various types, in an attempt to restore their well-being. It has been recognized since antiquity that medicine can kill or maim instead of curing, but the extent of the unintended damage it can cause has only been quantified relatively recently. 1 Harm caused directly by healthcare interventions represents only a fraction of the lost potential of healthcare—many patients suffer or die because an ineffective treatment was chosen instead of an effective one, or because the right treatment plan was selected but was not executed correctly or fast enough.