Implementation of Operating room Emergency Manuals

黄建宏

Implementation of Operating room Emergency Manuals

Recently, the APSF/ASA organized workshop to addressimportance of cognitive aids. Emergency manuals and cognitive aids have beenused by pilots. Anesthesiologists should embrace the use of and training aboutthese important tools.

How important are cognitive aids?

1. Anesthesia providers need cognitive aids-especially “emergencymanuals” or “emergency checklists” because our memory is limited and fallibleespecially under stress and about uncommon and unexpected events.

2. Emergency manuals help with both diagnosis and treatment. Failureof both types has been recorded in real patient care and in simulations.

3. Well-developed manuals that have been extensively tested insimulation and in real patient care, are now available from multiple sources. www.emergencymanuals.org

4. Although there are a number of pitfalls to using cognitive aids,the net benefits of using cognitive aids very likely far outweighs the possiblelimitations.

How to implement into practice?

1.      Training and familiarity are necessary ofacilitate effective use.

2.      Implementation can be facilitated by:

a.      Local champions and an interdisplinary team

b.     Leadership buy-in

c.      Educational use and familiarity to enableclinical use

d.     Resources for training

Emergency manuals and cognitive aids can help anesthesia providers to rememberevery critical step. Training how to effectively use cognitive aids in crisissituations is crucial. Training to improve teamwork and communication can helpto deliver better care in every crisis.

Reference:

APSF Newsletter 2015, 29:41-64