From Transit Disasters to Continuing Care: Lessons from the NTSB

​In his session "People, Processes, and Performance," David Mayer, PhD, managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), presented lessons learned from NTSB's investigations to attendees of the 2014 National Aging Services Risk Management conference. "We take a systems approach," he explained. "It's a good approach for understanding 'what went wrong' in any industry." Through an overview of NTSB's mission, goals, and actions, Mayer educated attendees about the importance of a systems approach and the benefits of approaching reactive event investigations with such a technique. Each year, NTSB releases its Most Wanted List of its top 10 advocacy priorities. This list, says NTSB, "is designed to increase awareness of, and support for, the most critical changes needed to reduce transportation accidents and save lives." (ECRI Institute takes a similar approach with its Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns and Top 10 Health Technology Hazards.