Teamwork in the trauma room evaluation of a multimodal team training program

Poor teamwork leads to preventable medical errors, and thus negatively impacts medical care. One way to improve teamwork is training. A multimodality team training program was designed to impact the attitudes and behavior of first-year residents who will encounter medical situations in the trauma room. The training program included low-fidelity role plays, lectures, and high-fidelity simulation with feedback.

The training program was a one-day workshop that was conducted twice, once for each of the two groups over two days at the beginning of the academic year in July. A total of 41 first-year interns (10 Emergency Medicine and 31 Surgery) were recruited for participation. Participants completed a Situational judgment test (SJT) on trauma teamwork before training. The training began with a low-fidelity simulation that served as an icebreaker to team concepts. Subsequently, a lecture with discussion provided key points regarding teamwork in the trauma room. A high-fidelity simulation then allowed participation in one of four trauma room scenarios with medical expert debriefing. The course concluded with a course summary and an assessment of participant attitudes regarding training along with a second administration of SJT.

Participant reactions to the training were positive overall. Results of SJT showed a positive effect for team training in three of the four possible comparisons.

The program was well received by the residents. Results suggest that a comprehensive training approach using role play, lecture, and simulation can positively affect behavioral choices for teamwork in the trauma room.