Today, I link to Cognitive Aids for Perioperative Crises – V4.4 2022 Stanford Anesthesia Cognitive Aid Program EMERGENCY MANUAL* (This link is to the download page for the PDF. The PDF is 60 pages.)
*Stanford Anesthesia Cognitive Aid Program,* Emergency Manual: Cognitive aids for perioperative crises, Version 4, 2021. See http://emergencymanual.stanford.edu for latest version. Creative Commons BY-NC-ND (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode). *Goldhaber-Fiebert SN, Austin N, Sultan E, Burian BK, Burden A, Howard SK, Gaba DM, Harrison TK.
The manual is an outstanding emergency review for all clinicians. I will be reviewing excerpts from the manual in upcoming posts.
What follows is an excerpt from the Home Page of The Stanford Emergency Manual.
Why?
Are you seeking to help clinicians deliver the best care during crises? Despite best intentions, well-trained clinicians often miss known key steps during crises. This FREE perioperative Emergency Manual contains 25 critical events as well as Crisis Resource Management key points.
An emergency manual is a resource that contains sets of cognitive aids or checklists relevant for a specific clinical context. The term ‘emergency manual’ is purposefully used as a clear reference to a familiar and accessible emergency resource at the point of care. This term is parallel to the emergency section of ‘Flight Manuals’ for pilots and aviation crews. Operating rooms and other acute care settings now have many ‘checklists,’ including the helpful and widespread WHO surgical safety checklist. The term ‘cognitive aid’ is the longstanding academic term encompassing all resources that help people to remember or apply relevant knowledge appropriately. However, this term is often not well understood by practicing clinicians. Naming this context-relevant book ‘emergency manual’ quickly developed broad cultural acceptance among interdisciplinary clinical team members.
Team members are using empowering questions, such as “Should I get you the Emergency Manual?” and leaders are assigning emergency manual ‘readers’ from the operating room team, to assist the direct providers, especially during complicated events such as Pulseless Electrical Activity (PEA) cardiac arrest.”
