Simulating Teamwork for Better Decision Making in Pediatric Emergency Medical Services

Mustafa Ozkaynak; Casey Dolen; Yeshai Dollin; Kathryn Rappaport; Kathleen Adelgais

Simulating Teamwork for Better Decision Making in Pediatric Emergency Medical Services

AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2021 Jan 25:2020:993-1002. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Mustafa Ozkaynak¹, Casey Dolen², Yeshai Dollin², Kathryn Rappaport³, Kathleen Adelgais³

Affiliations

¹ College of Nursing, University of Colorado | Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
² School of Medicine, University of Colorado | Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
³ Section of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado | Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.

PMID: 33936475
PMCID: PMC8075524

Abstract

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are an essential component of health systems and are critical to the provision of pediatric emergency care. Challenges in this setting include fast pace, need for advanced teamwork, situational awareness and limited resources. The purpose of this study was to identify human factors-related obstacles during care delivery by EMS teams that could lead to inefficiencies and patient safety issues. We examined video recordings of 24 simulations of EMS teams (paramedics and EMTs) who were providing care to pediatric patients. Two reviewers documented a total of 262 efficiency and patient safety issues in 4.25 hours of videos. These issues were grouped into 28 categories. Reviewers also documented 19 decision support opportunities. These issues and decision support opportunities can inform the design of clinical decision support systems that can improve EMS related patient outcomes.

MeSH terms

Awareness*
Child
Child, Preschool
Decision Making*
Delivery of Health Care
Emergency Medical Services*
Emergency Medical Technicians / psychology*
Humans
Patient Care Team*
Patient Safety
Patient Simulation*
Pediatrics
Video Recording