Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2025

Setup and Execution of the Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice Death Notification Curriculum
Published on: August 5, 2020
Evaluation of the decision-making process within the table-top exercise of the Terror and Disaster Surgical Care
Gerhard Achatz1, Alexander Reckziegel2, Benedikt Friemert2
1Department for Trauma Surgery and Orthopaedics, Reconstructive and Septic Surgery, Sportstraumatology / Trauma Research Group, German Armed Forces Hospital Ulm, Oberer Eselsberg 40, 89081, Ulm, Germany. GerhardAchatz@Bundeswehr.org.
Purpose:
The threat of terror is omnipresent in Europe and the number of attacks worldwide is increasing. The target of attacks in Europe is usually the civilian population. Incalculable dangerous situations at the scene of the event and severe injury patterns such as complex gunshot and explosion injuries with a high number of highly life-threatening people present rescue forces, emergency physicians and subsequently hospitals with medical, organizational as well as tactical and strategic challenges. The Terror and Disaster Surgical Care (TDSC®) course trains clinical decision-makers to meet these challenges of a TerrorMASCAL in the first 24-48 h.
Methods:
A table-top exercise was developed for the TDSC® course as a decision training tool, which was prospectively evaluated in six courses. The evaluation took place in 3 courses of the version 1.0, in 3 courses in the further developed version 2.0 to different target values like, e.g., the accuracy of the in-hospital triage. Furthermore, 16 TDSC® course instructors were evaluated.
Results:
For the evaluation, n = 360 patient charts for version 1.0 and n = 369 for version 2.0 could be evaluated. Overall, the table-top exercise was found to be suitable for training of internal clinical decision makers. Version 2.0 was also able to depict the action and decision-making paths in a stable and valid manner compared to the previous version 1.0. The evaluation of the instructors also confirmed the further value and improvement of version 2.0.
Conclusion:
With this prospective study, the table-top exercise of the TDSC® course was tested for decision stability and consistency of the participants' decision paths. This could be proven for the selected target variables, it further showed an improvement of the training situation. A further development of the table-top exercise, in particular also using digital modules, will allow a further optimization. http://www.bundeswehrkrankenhaus-ulm.de.
Related Concept Videos
Decision Making: Traditional Method
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is decided based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to this claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses, out of which a null hypothesis would be a...
Decision Making
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...
Decision Making: P-value Method
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses: a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can...
Critical Thinking I
Critical Thinking II
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching III: Evaluation and Documentation
Nurses can use several methods to evaluate patient outcomes. For example, oral questions can assess cognitive learning,...

