The second victim phenomenon in Anesthesiology

Errors in the practice of medicine are very unpleasant events that involve numerous factors of health professionals and/or the health systems themselves. Most of these incidents are foreseeable when the health professional is a responsible, up-to-date person, and works in an ideal health system. When the error leads to severe irreparable damage or the death of the patient, a difficult situation is generated, with several facets where the legal aspect predominates over the victims that have been generated. On one hand, the patient is a victim, and on the other hand the victimizer -usually one or more health professionals or technicians-, also becomes a victim. This second victim has been described as having a severe negative impact that requires multifaceted professional support; emotional, psychological, familiar, social, economic, and legal. Stress is common among anesthesiologists, a situation that increases the incidence of this phenomenon among anesthesia providers. Unfortunately, there are few well-established programs to support second victims, which have favored early retirements, suicides, burnout syndrome, more errors, and other unsuspected harmful aspects.