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EW MEETING REPORTER 60 May 2011 in 1986, was presented with a pair of crystal candlesticks. Ms. Gangi said being elected president humbled her; she never expected to become president when she joined 10 years ago. Throughout the remainder of the opening session, numerous peo- ple were recognized with plaques for their dedication to the group, in- cluding Mark Holloway, C.O.E., and president of the National Board for the Certification of Ophthalmic Ex- ecutives. During his acceptance speech, he said, "Credit must be given to that first group of individu- als—those like David Karcher, Candy Simerson, and Lucy Santiago—who saw the need for this type of organi- zation." Members of the original C.O.E. program development group were acknowledged with plaques as well. Ms. Gangi noted the William E. Rose Pinnacle Award has been re- named the Pinnacle Award in Vol- unteerism. This year's recipient, Candace Simerson, C.O.E., C.M.P.E., was recognized for the "incredible amount of time" she devotes to the group. The session concluded with sev- eral previous presidents discussing what it was like during their tenure. Founder Ms. Santiago told attendees the idea came to her while waiting in line to use the ladies' room at an American Academy of Ophthalmol- ogy meeting. After a bit of network- ing, she and Mr. Karcher had 90 people registered in less than 3 months for the first meeting of oph- thalmic administrators. Airline crash can shed light on healthcare safety protocols, speaker says When US Airways pilot Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III calmly and heroically landed Flight 1549 in New York's Hudson River on January 15, 2009, saving all 155 lives aboard, the breathtaking event cap- tured the imagination and hearts of the nation. Sully was elevated to bona fide hero status, celebrated by the United States and its leaders, and his pet cause of airline safety became a top concern. During the Government Rela- tions session, Capt. Steve W. Harden, chairman and president, LifeWings, Memphis, Tenn., used the example of the US Airways incident to illus- trate how airline experience can flu- idly translate to the ophthalmic operating room. LifeWings is a consulting firm made up of physicians, nurses, for- mer NASA astronauts, former mili- tary flight surgeons, pilots, flight crew, former military officers, and more who teach healthcare providers and facilities to eliminate medical mistakes and provide safer patient care. "By analyzing the lessons learned from the 'Miracle on the Hudson,' clinicians can learn how to dramatically improve patient safety and quality of care, which is the cur- rent direction of the Medicare and healthcare reforms that were in- cluded in the healthcare law," said Brock K. Bakewell, M.D., govern- ment relations chairman. Capt. Harden, a former Top Gun pilot for the U.S. Navy and a current commercial airline pilot, is the au- thor of two books on patient safety, and he designed and implemented award-winning safety systems for the airline industry, military flight squadrons, and heavy construction companies, Dr. Bakewell said. Some components of ultra-safe systems are leadership action, team- work, and skills training. Poor inter- personal interaction causes 70-80% of medical mishaps, he said. The U.S. major jet airline safety system gets excellent results and has three important components, Capt. Harding said. "First, the actors in an organiza- tion need to have good teamwork, communication, and collaboration," he said. "The only way they are going to get those is if they are trained. Second, those teamwork skills are put to good use when there is effective use of hard-wired safety tools, checklists or communication scripting, handoff tools, and deci- sion-making algorithms. Third, the leaders of the organization have to do certain things to make sure those tools are used well and that the teams are trained well to interact ca- pably with great teamwork and com- munication." Checklists are going to be im- portant as the government moves to implement quality of care measures in healthcare reform. Reporting live from the 2011 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium and Congress, San Diego, Calif. Editors' note: This Meeting Reporter contains original reporting by the EyeWorld news team. Film Festival grand prize winner Richard S. Hoffman, M.D. (left), accepts his prize from judges' panel chair William J. Fishkind, M.D. (right), at this year's awards ceremony

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