Established in 1985 as an independent nonprofit corporation with a vision that "no patient shall be harmed by anesthesia," APSF seeks to improve the patient safety during anesthesia care by encouraging and conducting:

• Safety research and education
• Patient safety programs and campaigns
• National and international exchange of information and ideas.

APSF works on both established tenets and new safety principals and pursues zero tolerance for patient injuries related to the perioperative period. The organization's activities have resulted in a culture of safety in anesthesia practice and the concomitant 10- to 20-fold reduction in mortality and catastrophic morbidity of patients undergoing routine anesthetics. For more information about APSF, visit www.apsf.org.

Conceived in 1972 to provide an organized, systematic approach for controlling hospital-acquired infections, APIC's mission is to improve health and patient safety by reducing infection risks and other adverse outcomes. The association has over 12,000 members, all of whom are responsible for infection prevention, control and hospital epidemiology in healthcare settings worldwide. Members include nurses, epidemiologists, physicians, quality and patient safety professionals, healthcare executives, microbiologist, clinical pathologist, laboratory technologists and public health practitioners. APIC advances its mission through research, consultation, collaboration, public policy, practice guidance and credentialing. For more information about the organization, visit www.apic.org.

ISMP is an independent, nonprofit charitable organization that works closely with healthcare practitioners and institutions, regulatory agencies, consumers and professional organizations to provide education about medication errors and how to prevent them. A federally certified patient safety organization (PSO) with more than 35 years of experience helping healthcare practitioners keep patients safe, ISMP provides healthcare organizations and practitioners the highest level of legal protection and confidentiality for the patient safety data and error reports that they submit to the Institute. For more information about the organization, visit www.ismp.org.