Less is more: Overlapping communication in trauma resuscitation

Timely management of trauma patients is crucial. Better team performance means faster care, but roles of specific communication practices remain unclear. We hypothesized that overlapping communication is associated with less efficient resuscitations.

This single-center prospective observational study included hypotensive trauma patients from June-September 2023. Data were collected using Trauma Video Review. The association between overlapping communication and resuscitation length was assessed using multivariable linear regression adjusting for demographics, injury mechanism, Injury Severity Score (ISS), vitals, and number of procedures performed.

We included 87 patients with median ISS 26.0 [interquartile range IQR: 14.0-34.0] and median systolic blood pressure 84.0 [70.0-90.5]. Median resuscitation length was 19.1 [15.4-23.1] minutes. Overlapping communication occurred for median 1.22 [0.7-2.1] minutes. Overlapping communication was associated with longer resuscitations (p ​< ​0.0001).

Overlapping communication was associated with less efficient resuscitations in hypotensive trauma patients. Training for trauma teams should target "one voice at a time".