This session is an opportunity to plan a team approach in full knowledge of the anticipated problem. The focus will be on team function rather than the medical management alone. Whereas surgeons frequently work together in pairs, anaesthetists tend to work as independent practitioners within the operating theatre. In the crisis situation, team integration may be impaired by an inability to assimilate information and to convey information clearly and accurately to others. The clinical scenario within this session covers aspects of human and machine interaction during routine and emergency anaesthesia and the effects of personality and hierarchy on performance.
Teams function most effectively by co-operation in the presence of an effective leader.
We will explore this firstly by debriefing video examples of crises evolving in the clinical environment and secondly by recreating simulated crises. The session will highlight leadership qualities and elements of team dysfunction. We will be splitting the group into two teams. Each group will have an opportunity both to enact a scenario and to constructively debrief the other group's performance. Nevertheless, work conducted in the simulation theatre has produced some interesting findings.