Abstract 15595: Improved Clinical Performance and Teamwork of Pediatric Interprofessional Resuscitation Teams With a Simulation-Based Educational Intervention

Introduction: Human errors occur during resuscitation despite individual knowledge of resuscitation guidelines. Poor teamwork has been implicated as a major source of such error; therefore interprofessional resuscitation teamwork training is essential. Hypothesis: A one-day team training course for pediatric interprofessional resuscitation team members improves adherence to PALS guidelines, team efficiency and teamwork in a simulated clinical environment. Methods: A prospective interventional study was conducted at 4 children’s hospitals in Canada with pediatric resuscitation team members (n=300, 51 teams). Educational intervention was a one-day simulation-based team training course involving interactive lecture, group discussions and 4 simulated resuscitation scenarios followed by debriefing. First scenario of the day was conducted prior to any training. Final scenario of the day was the same scenario, with modified patient history. Scenarios included standardized distractors designed to elicit and challenge specific teamwork behaviors. Primary outcome measure was change (before and after training) in adherence to PALS guidelines, as measured by the Clinical Performance Tool (CPT). Secondary outcome measures: change in times to initiation of chest compressions and defibrillation; and teamwork performance, as measured by the Clinical Teamwork Scale (CTS). Correlation between CPT and CTS scores was analyzed. Results: Teams significantly improved CPT scores (67.3% to 79.6%, P< 0.0001), time to initiation of chest compressions (60.8 sec to 27.1 sec, P<0.0001), time to defibrillation (164.8 sec to 122.0 sec, P<0.0001) and CTS scores (56.0% to 71.8%, P<0.0001). Significantly more teams defibrillated under AHA target of 2 minutes (10 vs. 27, P<0.01). A strong correlation was found between CPT and CTS (r=0.530, P<0.0001). Conclusions: Participation in a simulation-based team training educational intervention significantly improved surrogate measures of clinical performance, time to initiation of key clinical tasks, and teamwork during simulated pediatric resuscitation. A strong correlation between clinical and teamwork performance suggests that effective teamwork optimizes clinical performance of resuscitation teams.