On December 17, the Journal of Anesthesia published a review article by Consortium of Anesthesiology Patient Safety and Experiential Learning (CAPSEL) Drs. Isaak and Stiegler online. In the article they discuss the utilization of crisis resource management (CRM) in the setting of intraoperative malignant hyperthermia.
These CRM concepts are emphasized by the CAPSEL team in debriefs following the weekly anesthesia resident simulation training. These sessions allow the residents and medical students to apply their medical knowledge while gaining valuable experience leading interprofessional teams. The interprofessional roles are performed by members of the Clinical Skills and Patient Simulation Center standardized patient team.
In addition to the CRM principles for management of difficult situations, learners focus on improving use of communication tools like those in the hospital TeamSTEPPS initiative.
By combining this learning into a simulation session, the team is able to improve their responses and impact patient safety like it did in the case presented in this article.
Isaak RS, Stiegler MP. (2015) Review of crisis resource management (CRM) principles in the setting of intraoperative malignant hyperthermia. J Anesth. 1-9 (Link)
For more information about the CAPSEL team and their training, click here.