[Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology--Part 8: SOP for checking equipment and drugs].

In 2010 the Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology was launched. In this joined statement under the auspice of the European Society of Anaesthesiology the need for protocols for different aspects of perioperative procedures that could affect patient safety was stated. All participating institutions should have--among others--protocols for checking equipment and drugs required for the delivery of safe anaesthesia. The background for this being the fact that the lack of carefully checking equipment and drugs--or not adhering to existing checklists--is a latent threat to patient safety and thus may increase morbidity and mortality.In this part of a series the authors present protocols existing in their clinic for checking anaesthesia equipment and drugs. © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York.