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Advanced Trauma Life Support ATLS Student Course Manual 2018

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APPENDIX E n <strong>ATLS</strong> and <strong>Trauma</strong> Team Resource Management<br />

••<br />

Airway manager (provider skilled in airway<br />

management), referred to as Doctor A<br />

••<br />

Airway assistant<br />

••<br />

Second provider, referred to as Doctor B<br />

••<br />

Two nurses, referred to as Assistant A and<br />

Assistant B<br />

Additional staff should include, where possible:<br />

••<br />

A scribe/coordinator<br />

••<br />

Transporters/technicians/nursing assistants<br />

••<br />

Radiology support<br />

••<br />

Specialist (e.g., neurosurgeon, orthopedic<br />

surgeon, vascular surgeon)<br />

The team should have access to other areas of the<br />

hospital, including the CT scanner, angiography suite,<br />

operating rooms, and intensive care facilities.<br />

Composition of the team and backup resources vary<br />

from country to country and among institutions.<br />

However, the team composition and standard operating<br />

procedures — including protocols for transfer to other<br />

facilities — should always be agreed upon and in place<br />

in advance of receiving patients.<br />

CHARActeRISTICS OF A<br />

SUCCESSFUL Atls® TEAM<br />

A successful and effective trauma team requires a<br />

good leader with experience not just in managing<br />

clinical cases but also in leading and directing the<br />

team. <strong>Trauma</strong> team leaders may not necessarily<br />

be the most senior clinicians available. Of more<br />

importance is their experience in providing care<br />

according to <strong>ATLS</strong>® principles, particularly their<br />

exposure to a wide spectrum of clinical scenarios.<br />

They require broad knowledge concerning how<br />

to handle challenging situations and the ability to<br />

direct the team while making crucial decisions. They<br />

must be prepared to take ultimate responsibility for<br />

team actions.<br />

Regardless of their clinical background, team<br />

leaders and their team members share a common<br />

goal: to strive for the best possible outcome for<br />

the patient.<br />

Principles of communication can be challenged<br />

in stressful situations with critically ill or injured<br />

patients. However, communication between the<br />

team leader and team members is vital and a key<br />

factor of a successful trauma team. Communication<br />

encompasses information about the patient’s physical<br />

state (according to the ABCDEs) and directions from the<br />

team leader in response to this information. Frequently,<br />

additional members join the team after resuscitation<br />

has begun. The team leader must then communicate<br />

to incoming team members the roles they will perform<br />

and what their contributions should be. (Additional<br />

information about communication within a trauma<br />

team is provided later in this appendix.)<br />

Many trauma teams have no opportunity to train<br />

or work as a consistent team, so cohesion and mutual<br />

respect may be more difficult to foster. <strong>ATLS</strong>® gives team<br />

members a common language for understanding each<br />

other’s actions and thought processes, particularly when<br />

prioritizing interactions during the primary survey.<br />

Feedback—“after-action” review or debriefing<br />

once the patient has been transferred to definitive<br />

care—can be valuable in reinforcing effective team<br />

behavior and highlighting areas of excellence. Equally,<br />

it can provide individuals with opportunities to share<br />

opinions and discuss management.<br />

Roles AND RespoNSIBILITIES<br />

of THE TEAM LEAdeR<br />

The team leader is ultimately responsible for the team<br />

and its work. Several elements of team leadership<br />

can affect the team’s efficacy as well as the clinical<br />

outcome. These include preparing the team, receiving<br />

the handover, directing the team, responding to<br />

information, debriefing the team, and talking with<br />

the patient’s family/friends. A checklist for the trauma<br />

team leader is presented in n BOX E-1.<br />

Preparing the Team<br />

Preparation is one of the team leader’s most important<br />

roles. n BOX E-2 summarizes the process for briefing<br />

the trauma team.<br />

Receiving the Handover<br />

The act of handover involves relinquishing authority<br />

(or property) from one control agency to another. In<br />

medicine, this often means the transfer of professional<br />

responsibility and accountability. In managing<br />

victims of major trauma, the central handover is<br />

usually between the prehospital care staff and the<br />

trauma team leader in the emergency department<br />

(ED). It is critical to relay important and relevant<br />

n BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

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