Table 1. Overview of terms.

Term used	Explanation
Adverse event (AE)	A harmful event that is due to the treatment rather than the disease; it may be preventable or non-preventable
Preventable adverse event (PAE)	An adverse event that is preventable *1
Critical incident	An event that might result in an adverse event or clearly increases the probability of an adverse event
Error	An action or omission that entails deviating from the plan, following a wrong plan, or no plan. Whether harm arises from this is irrelevant for the definition of an error
Near miss	An error without harm that could have resulted in harm

^*1 “Preventability” applies when an error has caused the event Source: German Coalition for Patient Safety (e1)