Use of a Pre-Departure Checklist Can Help Avoid Travel Mishaps -- And Lighten Your Suitcase As Well

In a recent article in the New Yorker, Dr. Atul Gawande reviewed the failure of too many American hospitals to require the use of checklists in treating complex conditions in their operating rooms -- checklists similar to the ones that airline pilots consult before taking off. He argued that use of such checklists would eliminate most medical mistakes.

He could have been talking about travel, as I learned on a recent trip. A checklist, I realized, would have reminded me to take a re-charging cord for my cellphone, instead of simply the cellphone. On another trip, I brought the re-charging cord, but forgot to bring the separate head for plugging the re-charging cord into a power outlet.

My most embarrassing oversight occurred on a trip to deliver a speech before a distinguished audience in a Midwestern town. In the rush of packing, I included a rather solemn blue suit and white dress shirt, but forgot to pack my dress shoes. I boarded the flight in casual attire, wearing sneakers. I had to wear those sneakers to deliver the speech, at which I was introduced by the lieutenant-governor of that state. Earnestly, I asked her to include in her introduction an apology for my strange choice of shoes resulting from overly-pressured packing. She got the request all wrong, forgot exactly what I had asked, and ended her introduction with the words, "One thing I can say about Mr. Frommer, he sure likes his shoes!"

Drawing up a checklist will remind you to bring a comb, to bring a necktie, to bring your swimsuit, to bring a needed medication. It will also enable you to pack lighter than you otherwise would. When I write down the exact items of apparel I will need on a trip, I always end up with fewer items than I would otherwise throw hastily and without considered judgment into the suitcase.

So I'm all for the checklist movement. Tell your doctor to urge his hospital to take this obvious step.