title: The Bare Minimum: The Reality of Global Anaesthesia and Patient Safety.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Current guidelines for the provision of safe anaesthesia from the World Health Organization and the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) are unachievable in a majority of low and middle-income countries (LMICs) worldwide.
  
  
  METHODS
  Current guidelines for anaesthesia and patient safety provisions from the WHO and WFSA are compared with local ability to achieve these recommendations in LMICs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Influential international organizations have historically published anaesthesia guidelines, but for the most part, without impacting substantial documentable changes or outcomes in low-income environments. This analysis, and subsequent recommendations, reviews the effectiveness of existing strategies for international guidelines, and proposes practical, step-wise implementation of patient safety approaches for LMICs.
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA, kamcqueen@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McQueen
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Coonan
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ottaway
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hendel
authors.forename: Paulin R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Bagutifils
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Froese
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Neighbor
authors.forename: Haydn
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Perndt
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia / Q000592:standards*; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000592:standards*; D003906:Developing Countries; D006801:Humans; D061214:Patient Safety; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014944:World Health Organization