• Madhuri B Nagaraj, Jessica E Lowe, Alexander L Marinica, Brandon B Morshedi, S Marshal Isaacs, Brian L Miller, Andrew D Chou, Michael W Cripps, and Ryan P Dumas.
• Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
• Prehosp Emerg Care. 2023 Jan 1; 27 (1): 101710-17.

ObjectiveHandoffs by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel suffer from poor structure, inattention, and interruptions. The relationship between the quality of EMS communication and the non-technical performance of trauma teams remains unknown.MethodsWe analyzed 3 months of trauma resuscitation videos (highest acuity activations or patients with an Injury Severity Score [ISS] of ≥15). Handoffs were scored using the mechanism-injury-signs-treatment (MIST) framework for completeness (0-20), efficiency (category jumps), interruptions, and timeliness. Trauma team non-technical performance was scored using the Trauma Non-Technical Skills (T-NOTECHS) scale (5-15).ResultsWe analyzed 99 videos. Handoffs lasted a median of 62 seconds [IQR: 43-74], scored 11 [10-13] for completeness, and had 2 [1-3] interruptions. Most interruptions were verbal (85.2%) and caused by the trauma team (64.9%). Most handoffs (92%) were efficient with 2 or fewer jumps. Patient transfer during handoff occurred in 53.5% of the videos; EMS providers giving handoff helped transfer in 69.8% of the Primary surveys began during handoff in 42.4% of the videos. Resuscitation teams who scored in the top-quartile on the T-NOTECHS (>11) had higher MIST scores than teams in lower quartiles (13 [11.25-14.75] vs. 11 [10-13]; p < .01). There were no significant differences in ISS, efficiency, timeliness, or interruptions between top- and lower-quartile groups.ConclusionsThere is a relationship between EMS MIST completeness and high performance of non-technical skill by trauma teams. Trauma video review (TVR) can help identify modifiable behaviors to improve EMS handoff and resuscitation efforts and therefore trauma team performance.

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