The universal protocol requires the surgical team to:

• A. Clean the OR before starting
• B. Verify patient identity and site prior to incision
• C. Verify anesthesia plan after surgery
• D. Discard instruments after surgery

Answer: (B)

Preventing wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and wrong-person surgery is what the universal protocol aims to safeguard. It requires confirming the patient’s identity and the planned surgical site before incision, and this verification is done alongside site marking and a final time-out with the entire team present just before you cut. Verifying identity and site ahead of the incision ensures you’re operating on the correct patient and the correct part of the body, which is the central safety step of the protocol. Cleaning the OR is important for sterility but isn’t what the universal protocol focuses on; confirming the anesthesia plan after surgery isn’t applicable to the pre-incision safety check, and discarding instruments after surgery isn’t related to preventing wrong-site errors.