The effect of emergency manuals on team performance during two different simulated perioperative crises: A prospective, randomized controlled trial

The impact of cognitive aids on resuscitation performance in in-hospital cardiac arrest scenarios: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The type of cardiac rhythm evaluated in the 14 studies was: (i) mixed (both shockable and non-shockable rhythm) ( n = 6) [ 34 – 36 , 52 , 54 , 55 ]; (ii) shockable rhythm [ventricular fibrillation (VF)/pulseless ventricular tachycardia (pVT)] ( n = 6) [ 33 , 48 , 50 , 51 , 53 , 56 ]; (iii) pulseless electrical activity (PEA) ( n = 1) [ 49 ]; (iv) and PEA that changed into VF ( n = 1) [ 32 ].…”

“…Ten studies evaluated the effectiveness of interactive digital cognitive tools installed on an electronic device: four smartphone apps [ 32 , 33 , 51 , 55 ], a tablet app [ 48 ], an electronic decision support system controlled by a handheld tablet device [ 52 ], a dynamic electronic cognitive aid on a large screen display [ 53 ], an interactive web-based application intended to be viewed by the entire team on a large screen [ 54 ], a computer-based prompting device [ 50 ], and a Decision Support Tool on Ipod Touch [ 36 ]. Four studies [ 34 , 35 , 49 , 56 ] evaluated paper-based cognitive tools. Two studies considered the use of paper-based cognitive aids as a control group [ 33 , 53 ], including the three-arm RCT [ 33 ] that compared a smartphone app with both a paper-based cognitive aid and no support.…”

Implementing emergency manuals to respond to perioperative crises

“…Emergency manuals can address one specific crisis or multiple crises, and can be printed (e.g., book, posters) or electronic (e.g., mobile or web apps) 3 . Resources are available to aid facilities in creating EMs, some of which provide free, downloadable EMs (Sidebar 1).…”

“…Safe patient care is dependent on having effective systems in place to achieve the best possible outcomes. This is especially important during uncommon clinical emergencies, such as a malignant hyperthermia (MH) crisis or cardiac arrest, during which a quick response will help improve outcomes for patients 1‐5 . One tool that is gaining popularity in the perioperative setting to support teams during crises is the emergency manual (EM), which is a set of cognitive aids or checklists to help guide decisions and decrease dependence on memory 1,3‐6 …”

Crisis checklists in emergency medicine: another step forward for cognitive aids

“…10 25 One simulation-based study that included scenarios not within the EM available showed variable usage of the EMs ('with some teams not using the [emergency manual] at all') and variable impact on team performance. 25 Future studies on the use of ED crisis checklists by resuscitation teams may want to factor in the complexity of an undifferentiated medical scenario, where a patient may present with an unknown diagnosis, or where a clinical presentation may be confounded by comorbidities.…”