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Applying a Model of Teamwork Processes to Emergency Medical Services

INTRODUCTION: Effective teamwork has been shown to optimize patient safety. However, research centered on the critical inputs, processes, and outcomes of team effectiveness in emergency medical services (EMS) has only recently begun to emerge. We conducted a theory-driven qualitative study of teamwo...

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Autores principales: Fernandez, William G., Benzer, Justin K., Charns, Martin P., Burgess, James F.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7673905/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33207175
http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2020.7.47238
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author Fernandez, William G.
Benzer, Justin K.
Charns, Martin P.
Burgess, James F.
author_facet Fernandez, William G.
Benzer, Justin K.
Charns, Martin P.
Burgess, James F.
author_sort Fernandez, William G.
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Effective teamwork has been shown to optimize patient safety. However, research centered on the critical inputs, processes, and outcomes of team effectiveness in emergency medical services (EMS) has only recently begun to emerge. We conducted a theory-driven qualitative study of teamwork processes—the interdependent actions that convert inputs to outputs—by frontline EMS personnel in order to provide a model for use in EMS education and research. METHODS: We purposively sampled participants from an EMS agency in Houston, TX. Full-time employees with a valid emergency medical technician license were eligible. Using semi-structured format, we queried respondents on task/team functions and enablers/obstacles of teamwork in EMS. Phone interviews were recorded and transcribed. Using a thematic analytic approach, we combined codes into candidate themes through an iterative process. Analytic memos during coding and analysis identified potential themes, which were reviewed/refined and then compared against a model of teamwork processes in emergency medicine. RESULTS: We reached saturation once 32 respondents completed interviews. Among participants, 30 (94%) were male; the median experience was 15 years. The data demonstrated general support for the framework. Teamwork processes were clustered into four domains: planning; action; reflection; and interpersonal processes. Additionally, we identified six emergent concepts during open coding: leadership; crew familiarity; team cohesion; interpersonal trust; shared mental models; and procedural knowledge. CONCLUSION: In this thematic analysis, we outlined a new framework of EMS teamwork processes to describe the procedures that EMS operators employ to convert individual inputs into team performance outputs. The revised framework may be useful in both EMS education and research to empirically evaluate the key planning, action, reflection, and interpersonal processes that are critical to teamwork effectiveness in EMS.
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spelling pubmed-76739052020-11-24 Applying a Model of Teamwork Processes to Emergency Medical Services Fernandez, William G. Benzer, Justin K. Charns, Martin P. Burgess, James F. West J Emerg Med Emergency Medical Services INTRODUCTION: Effective teamwork has been shown to optimize patient safety. However, research centered on the critical inputs, processes, and outcomes of team effectiveness in emergency medical services (EMS) has only recently begun to emerge. We conducted a theory-driven qualitative study of teamwork processes—the interdependent actions that convert inputs to outputs—by frontline EMS personnel in order to provide a model for use in EMS education and research. METHODS: We purposively sampled participants from an EMS agency in Houston, TX. Full-time employees with a valid emergency medical technician license were eligible. Using semi-structured format, we queried respondents on task/team functions and enablers/obstacles of teamwork in EMS. Phone interviews were recorded and transcribed. Using a thematic analytic approach, we combined codes into candidate themes through an iterative process. Analytic memos during coding and analysis identified potential themes, which were reviewed/refined and then compared against a model of teamwork processes in emergency medicine. RESULTS: We reached saturation once 32 respondents completed interviews. Among participants, 30 (94%) were male; the median experience was 15 years. The data demonstrated general support for the framework. Teamwork processes were clustered into four domains: planning; action; reflection; and interpersonal processes. Additionally, we identified six emergent concepts during open coding: leadership; crew familiarity; team cohesion; interpersonal trust; shared mental models; and procedural knowledge. CONCLUSION: In this thematic analysis, we outlined a new framework of EMS teamwork processes to describe the procedures that EMS operators employ to convert individual inputs into team performance outputs. The revised framework may be useful in both EMS education and research to empirically evaluate the key planning, action, reflection, and interpersonal processes that are critical to teamwork effectiveness in EMS. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine 2020-11 2020-10-19 /pmc/articles/PMC7673905/ /pubmed/33207175 http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2020.7.47238 Text en Copyright: © 2020 Fernandez et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Emergency Medical Services
Fernandez, William G.
Benzer, Justin K.
Charns, Martin P.
Burgess, James F.
Applying a Model of Teamwork Processes to Emergency Medical Services
title Applying a Model of Teamwork Processes to Emergency Medical Services
title_full Applying a Model of Teamwork Processes to Emergency Medical Services
title_fullStr Applying a Model of Teamwork Processes to Emergency Medical Services
title_full_unstemmed Applying a Model of Teamwork Processes to Emergency Medical Services
title_short Applying a Model of Teamwork Processes to Emergency Medical Services
title_sort applying a model of teamwork processes to emergency medical services
topic Emergency Medical Services
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7673905/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33207175
http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2020.7.47238
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