[Training for real: simulation, team-training and communication to improve trauma management]

Abstract

The focus on the role of non-technical skills such as communication, dynamic decision making, situational awareness and teamwork in emergency medicine has gained importance over the past few years. Especially during time-critical and complex treatment of severely injured patients in a multidisciplinary and interprofessional trauma-team these factors play an important role for patient-safety and process optimization and are a key factor influencing the perceived quality of a given scenario by the team members. Thus, apart from medical expertise and technical excellence of single actors within a trauma team, non-technical skills need to be incorporated in trainings for trauma management. For the improvement of non-technical skills, particularly team communication and teamwork, a simulator-based training represents a valuable tool. The technical performance of portable manikin-based simulators has improved tremendously during the last decade, which facilitates realistic and true-to-life multidisciplinary team-training in trauma management.