The most common sentinel event that was reported to the Joint Commission last year was unintended retention of a foreign body.
The Joint Commission reviewed 764 total sentinel events in 2014. The following are the top 10 sentinel events that occurred in that time period:
1. Unintended retention of a foreign body: 112
2. Fall: 91
3. Suicide: 82
4. Other unanticipated event (including asphyxiation, burn, choked on food, drowned or found unresponsive): 73
4. Delay in treatment: 73
6. Wrong-patient, wrong-site, wrong-procedure: 67
7. Op/post-op complication: 52
8. Criminal event: 47
9. Perinatal death/injury: 32
10. Infection-related event: 12
In 2013, the most common sentinel event was delay in treatment, followed by wrong-patient, wrong-side or wrong-procedure events.