Cognitive errors underlie most diagnostic errors that are made in the ED. And with time I have realised that our speciality is a vulnerable one, because we often commit some errors (delayed diagnosis, missed diagnosis, unnecessary imaging) which look like no-brainers to people upstairs in the ICUs and wards. Then why do we commit such errors? May be because as everyone else, we often have a tendency to pursue more readily attainable goals. There is a story about a jogger who came across a man on his knees under a streetlight one evening.
He explained that he had dropped his wedding ring. The jogger offered to help him search, and he accepted. With no luck after a half hour, the jogger asked the man if he was sure he had dropped the ring at the place where they were searching. The man replied that he actually dropped it several yards away in the shadows. ‘‘Then why are we looking here?’’…
