Trauma Team Dynamics

The majority of medical errors are non-technical in nature, stemming from faulty decision-making, asynchronous information gathering, lack of situational awareness and ineffective communication and team leadership. Reviews of accidents from other high-risk industries, including the airline industry, have had similar findings. This led the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the airline industry to develop crew (now crisis) resource management (CRM) training. These team-based training strategies address “non-technical” skills to counteract human error and improve team and patient safety. Medicine has begun adapting this training especially within the realms of anesthesia and critical care. Trauma surgery has been slower to utilize this work; however, simulation-based training is increasing in popularity. 

The first edition of Trauma Team Dynamics was a revolutionary book in the field of trauma care. It was the first text that integrated the complexities of trauma care but illustrated how these could be streamlined and improved through a team-based focus and training. CRM and team-based training has grown substantially in the past six years since this text was conceived, and there have been significant developments both in the breadth of the training as well as refinement in the topics covered, teaching methods utilized and strategies employed to overcome the multitude of challenges still faced in this area. The second edition of this text expands greatly on the initial CRM topics covered in the opening section of the book. Hot topics in CRM training, including the concepts of followership, and conflict resolution and highlights strategies such as mindfulness and others to manage stress and reduce burnout, are discussed. The text also expands into novel areas of trauma care including less invasive bedside endovascular treatments such as REBOA (Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta) and a more in-depth discussion of teleresuscitation and trauma care in austere environments.