The ABCDE (Avoid Shaming/Personal Opinions, Build a Rapport, Choose a Communication Approach, Develop a Debriefing Content, Ensure the Ergonomics of Debriefing) Approach: A Simplified Model for Debriefing During Simulation in Emergency Medicine

Abstract

Several debriefing models have been described in the literature. However, all these debriefing models are designed in the general medical education format. Hence, for people involved in patient care and clinical teaching, sometimes it may become tedious and difficult to incorporate these models. In the following article, we describe a simplified model for debriefing using the well-known mnemonic ABCDE. The ABCDE approach is expanded as follows: A - Avoid Shaming/Personal Opinions, B - Build a Rapport, C - Choose a Communication Approach, D - Develop a Debriefing Content, and E - Ensure the Ergonomics of Debriefing. The unique thing about this model is that it provides a debriefing approach as a whole rather than only the delivery. It deals with human factors, educational factors, and ergonomics of debriefing, unlike other debriefing models. This approach can be used for debriefing by simulation educators in the field of emergency medicine and also by educators in other specialties.

Keywords: abcde approach; content for debriefing; debriefing approach; educational factors in debriefing; emergency medicine; human factors in debriefing; medical education; patient simulation.