lol. that was sort of my thought.
but in all seriousness....i hear these stories too often for comfort.
I have to wonder: would it be too difficult to make a spreadsheet of all the stuff “on the tray” at the beginning of the operation, and then at the end of the operation just go item by item and make sure all the stuff on the spreadsheet is on the tray after the operation?
Isn’t there SOME sort of PROCESS which could help the surgery team not leave their shit behind in people’s bodies?
When my wife had her (planned) caesarean, the doc and surgical assistant counted and took stock of every single item before they sewed her up.
It was interesting; they went down a list.
I got to observe it all, and the doc, who was afraid of fainting dads in the OR, asked me part way through if I was OK, and I said “I lost my watch”.