Near Miss Policy Term Definition

(also called a close call) is an event or situation that could have resulted in an accident, injury or illness, but did not, either by chance or through timely intervention. An example of a near miss would be: surgical or other procedure almost performed on the wrong patient due to lapses in verification of patient identification but caught at the last minute by chance. Near misses are opportunities for learning and afford the chance to develop preventive strategies and actions. Near misses will receive the same level of scrutiny as adverse events that result in actual injury.