Training Brings Disciplines Together in ED
The patient case was complicated: a Charles River jet skier collided with a bridge, suffered a pelvic fracture and nearly drowned. When he presented to the Emergency Department, an interdisciplinary team of BWH nurses, doctors and technicians were brought together.
While it was only a training session, participating care providers came away from the four-hour session in the STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation with a renewed appreciation for the stresses and challenges in trauma cases. “It was a very positive experience,” Ethan Richardson, RN, BSN, of the Emergency Department, said.
Richardson is one of nearly 100 nurses, Emergency Medicine and Surgery residents, emergency services assistants and respiratory therapists who have participated in this interdisciplinary team training program designed by Philip Rice, MD, of Emergency Medicine, and Jonathan Gates, MD, associate surgeon in the Division of Trauma, Burn and Critical Care.
Richardson said the training program fostered team building and communication among BWHers from different disciplines to critique how trauma situations are run and managed. “Sometimes, we can be a little short with each other because of the stress of a certain situation, but this program emphasizes protocols and communication in critical care situations,” he said.
The team came together in a classroom setting, participated in the simulation at STRATUS and debriefed afterwards to review what went well and what didn’t. Richardson said watching a video of the exercise proved to be a significant asset to the program.
“When you play it back, you can hear what you may have missed and see the importance of having an awareness of the space you’re in with all the IV lines, sharps and blood products,” he said.
Bill Briggs, Emergency Department nurse manager, said this training program meshes technical care with efficient communication in a non-judgmental environment. “This training enhances our working understanding of proper protocols, communication and team work,” he said.