Non-Technical Skills in Trauma and Disaster Response: Mapping Decision-Making, Communication, and Team Dynamics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29070/x2wgcf93Keywords:
Non-technical skills, Trauma response, Disaster management, Decision-making, Communication, Team dynamics, Human factors, Emergency preparednessAbstract
Along with clinical experience and technical competency, non-technical skills (NTS) are crucial to trauma and disaster response efficacy and safety. Responders' capacity to make good judgments, communicate well, and work together affects patient outcomes and mission success in high-risk, time-sensitive, and resource-constrained circumstances. This research examines non-technical abilities in trauma and catastrophe scenarios, focusing on decision-making, communication, and teamwork. Situational awareness, prioritizing, and adaptive judgment are needed to make decisions in uncertain, incomplete, and fast changing situations. Multidisciplinary and multi-agency teams benefit from verbal and nonverbal communication, which reduces mistakes and promotes coordination. Operational efficiency and responder resilience depend on team dynamics including leadership, trust, role clarity, and coordination. The research shows how inadequacies in one fundamental non-technical domain might affect response performance by mapping their interrelationships. The concept emphasizes systematic training, simulation-based learning, and standardized evaluation techniques to improve trauma and disaster responders' non-technical skills. Adding non-technical skills to disaster planning frameworks may increase system resilience, minimize mistakes, and improve patient and responder safety in complicated emergency situations.
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