Performance improvement through best practice team management: human factors in complex trauma.

Human factors or non-technical skills are now commonplace in the medical literature, having taken the lead from the airline and nuclear industries and more recently Formula One motor racing. They have been suggested as playing a vital role in the success of the trauma teams in recent conflicts. This article outlines the background to human factors, referring to early papers and reports and also outlines high profile cases that highlight their importance. We then describe the importance of human factors in the deployed setting and some of the lessons that have been learnt from current conflicts.

Optimising communication in the damage control resuscitation -- Damage Control Surgery sequence in major trauma management.

Damage Control Resuscitation and Damage Control Surgery (DCR-DCS) is an approach to managing severely injured patients according to their physiological needs, in order to optimise outcome. Key to delivering DCR-DCS is effective communication between members of the clinical team and in particular between the surgeon and anaesthetist, in order to sequence and prioritise interventions. Although the requirement for effective communication is self-evident, the principles to achieving this can be forgotten and sub-optimal when unexpected problems arise at critical points during management of challenging cases. A system is described which builds on the 'World Health Organisation (WHO) safer surgery checklist' and formalises certain stages of communication in order to assure the effective passage of key points. We have identified 3 distinct phases: (i) The Command Huddle, once the patient has been assessed in the Emergency room; (ii) The Snap Brief, once the patient has arrived in the Operating Room but before the start of surgery; and (iii) The Sit-Reps, every 10 minutes for the entire theatre team to maintain situational awareness and allow effective anticipation and planning.

Human factors in decision making in major trauma in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.

INTRODUCTION: The concentration of major trauma experience at Camp Bastion has allowed continuous improvements to occur in the patient pathway from the point of wounding to surgical treatment. These changes have involved clinical management as well as alterations to the physical layout of the hospital, training and decision making. Consideration of the human factors has been a major part of these improvements. METHODS: We describe the Camp Bastion patient pathway with the communication template that focused decision making at various key moments during damage control resuscitation and damage control surgery (DCR-DCS). This system identifies four key stages: 'command huddle', 'snap brief', 'sit-reps' (situation reports) and 'sign-out/debrief'. The attitude of staff to communication and decision making is also evaluated. RESULTS: Twenty cases admitted to Camp Bastion with battlefield injuries were studied from 6 September to 6 October 2012. Qualitative responses from 115 members of staff were collected. All patients were haemodynamically shocked with a median pH of 7.25 (range: 6.83-7.40) and a median of 18 units of mixed red cells and plasma were transfused. In 89% of instances, theatre staff were aware of what was required of them at the beginning of the case, 86% felt there were regular updates and 93% understood what was required of them as the case progressed. CONCLUSIONS: The evolution of the hospital at Camp Bastion has been a unique learning experience in the field of major trauma. The Defence Medical Services have responded with continuous innovation to optimise DCR-DCS for seriously injured patients. Together with the improvements in clinical care, a communication and decision making matrix was developed. Staff evaluation showed a high degree of satisfaction with the quality of communication.

Role of angiogenesis in benign, premalignant and malignant vulvar lesions.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the presence of angiogenic factors in benign, premalignant and malignant vulvar lesions. STUDY DESIGN: Immunohistochemical demonstration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) in normal vulvar skin, lichen sclerosus, vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) and vulvar cancer. RESULTS: VEGF was found in the majority of vulvar cancers but only a minority of VIN lesions. PD-ECGF was found in the majority of lesions. CONCLUSION: Demonstration of angiogenesis may suggest which preinvasive lesions will progress to invasive cancer.