How do medical teams operate under extreme pressure? How do we build (or grow) high-performing resuscitation teams? This half-day pre-course is designed to jumpstart discussion around these key challenges, facilitate collaborative inquiry into the critical issues resuscitation teams face, and develop experiments participants can run on improving high-performing teamwork at their home institutions. Focused on defining what “right” looks like, improving critical communication in and out of crisis, and working on augmenting leading / following / and teaming skills, this session will be a mix of experiential learning, collaborative inquiry, small group exercises and discussions. The instructor, Dan Dworkis, MD PhD, is the Chief Medical Officer at The Mission Critical Team Institute, the founder of The Emergency Mind Project, and a world-recognized expert in how teams and systems perform under pressure.

After focusing on team work during high performance resuscitation with Dan Dworkis, the afternoon will focus on how to manage your personal stress response in these situations. As emergency doctors we can all deal with a bit of adrenaline, but there is an optimum in the amount of stress you need to perform well. The human nervous system will react with a fight and flight or freeze response when suddenly confronted with a critically ill patient. Pilots are trained not to panic when lightning hits the wing of their plane and athletes learn to focus and stay calm before their olympic game. We as emergency doctors should also train ourselves to stay calm, focused and in control during resuscitations. The instructors are Nienke Sonneveld, emergency physician, and Remy van Gelder, mindfulness and leadership coach. In this practical workshop they will combine their expertise to provide you with skills that are actually suitable to use in the Emergency Department. Participants will leave with several tools and techniques that they can start using and practicing in their next resuscitation.