Pete Conrad Global Patient Safety Award

The Pete Conrad Global Patient Safety Award was established in honor of Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., the Apollo 12 astronaut who was the third man on the moon and winner of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. The award was established by his widow, Nancy Conrad and is awarded to extraordinary health care leaders, caregivers, educators, students, and institutions that bring lifesaving patient safety solutions to frontline healthcare use

Winners of the award include former healthcare government agency leaders involved in performance improvement initiatives, astronauts who championed patient safety after their tour with NASA, quality and security leaders of large hospital systems, nurses, patient advocates, elementary school teachers, and students.

Background
After Pete Conrad died the preventable death of a systems failure in emergency care following a low speed motorcycle accident with a delay in diagnosis and treatment, Nancy Conrad, his widow, set out on a quest to help save lives of patients and victims of similar scenarios. She co-founded the Community Emergency Healthcare Initiative and spoke at global meetings to enlist the help of patient safety experts around the world. The Pete Conrad National Patient Safety Award was established by Nancy Conrad to recognize extraordinary health care leaders, caregivers, educators, and institutions that bring lifesaving patient safety solutions into frontline healthcare use.

Nomination and selection
The award is given for extraordinary contributions to patient safety and is not an annual award. Nancy Conrad makes the final decision on awardees with input from expert advisors from the healthcare, aerospace, and the innovation communities.

2007 Award Recipients
In 2007, the award was given to the organizations that participated in the harmonization effort that lead to the development of the 2006 National Quality Forum Safe Practices for Better Healthcare. This harmonization effort was the first ever synchronization of best practices across suppliers, providers, and purchasers of healthcare. It allowed healthcare institutions to focus on a common set of impact targets. The award was received on behalf of the organizations by their leaders.

2012 Award Recipients
At a TMIT global safety summit in 2012, the award was given to individuals representing organizations that had made enormous contributions to patient safety. They included contributions through national best practices, measures, and standards harmonization that allowed hospitals to target a common set of metrics. This resulted in many thousands of lives and millions of dollars being saved in U.S. healthcare. The awards were presented Nancy Conrad, widow of Pete Conrad; and former Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

2014 Award Recipients
In 2014, the award was given to a group of national consumer advocates. These individuals have written and published peer-reviewed medical articles and co-authored portions of The National Quality Forum Safe Practices for Better Healthcare. They were honored for their perseverance in championing the cause of patient safety for over a decade. Their contribution to passage of the Hospital Acquired Conditions (HACs) by the U.S. federal government that tied financial incentives to patient safety has generated savings of more than $2.9B and saved more than 8,000 lives.

2018 Award Recipients
The 2018 award winners include individuals and a team. Sorrel King, Sue Sheridan, and Heather Foster were awarded as individual patient safety champions who have exhibited the courage, faith, and tenacity to speak truth to power on behalf of patients after tragic deaths and harm to families. The Med Tac Training team was honored for their role in empowering bystanders to deliver lifesaving patient safety assistance in their communities before professional first responders arrive and then to work with professional caregivers during pre-hospital care.