Biomedical subjects

Richard H Blum

Publications and source records attributed to Richard H Blum.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

A method for measuring the effectiveness of simulation-based team training for improving communication skills.

Team behavior and coordination, particularly communication or team information-sharing, are critical for optimizing team performance; research in medicine generally provides no accepted method for measurement of team information-sharing. In a controlled simulator setting, we developed a technique for placing clinical information (probes) with members of a team of trainees participating in a 1-day Anesthesia Crisis Resource Management course and later tested the teams for knowledge of the probes as an indicator of overall team information-sharing. Despite the low level of team information-sharing, we demonstrated construct validity of the probe methodology by the correlation of measured change in team information-sharing from beginning to end of training with self-rated change. There was no statistical difference in "group sharing" from beginning to end of training, despite trainees' survey responses that the course would be useful for their education and practice.

Communication↗

PubMed2004

Crisis resource management training for an anaesthesia faculty: a new approach to continuing education.

BACKGROUND: Human error and system failures continue to play a substantial role in adverse outcomes in health care. Anaesthesia crisis resource management addresses many patient safety issues by teaching behavioural skills for critical events but it has not been systematically utilized to teach experienced faculty. METHODS: An anaesthesia crisis resource management course was created for the faculty of our medical school's anaesthesia teaching programmes. The course objectives were to understand and improve participants' proficiency in crisis resource management (CRM) skills and to learn skills for debriefing residents after critical events. Through surveys, measurement objectives assessed acceptance, utility and need for recurrent training immediately post-course. These were measured again approximately 1 year later along with self-perceived changes in the management of difficult or critical events. RESULTS: The highly rated course was well received in terms of overall course quality, realism, debriefings and didactic presentation. Course usefulness, CRM principles, debriefing skills and communication were highly rated immediately post-course and 1 year later. Approximately half of the faculty staff reported a difficult or critical event following the course; of nine self-reported CRM performance criteria surveyed all claimed improvement in their CRM non-technical skills. CONCLUSIONS: A unique and highly rated anaesthesia faculty course was created; participation made the faculty staff eligible for malpractice premium reductions. Self-reported CRM behaviours in participants' most significant difficult or critical events indicated an improvement in performance. These data provide indirect evidence supporting the contention that this type of training should be more widely promoted, although more definitive measures of improved outcomes are needed.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Chronic upper airway obstruction and cardiac dysfunction: anatomy, pathophysiology and anesthetic implications.

The causes of obstruction to airflow in the pediatric upper airway include craniofacial disorders, subglottic stenosis, choanal atresia, syndromes associated with neuromuscular weakness, and the most common, hypertrophy of the tonsils and adenoids. Abnormal breathing can adversely affect craniofacial growth, and abnormal craniofacial development can promote upper airway obstruction. Chronic upper airway obstruction often presents with evidence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome; in severe cases these children also present with pulmonary hypertension and cor pulmonale. The development of pulmonary hypertension and right heart dysfunction from chronic upper airway obstruction is complex. Hypoxemia and hypercarbia-induced respiratory acidosis are potent mediators of pulmonary vasoconstriction that can lead to reversible and irreversible chronic changes in the pulmonary vasculature. It is likely that production of various neurohumoral factors in response to hypoxemia and respiratory distress may further promote pulmonary hypertension, right ventricular dysfunction, and consequent impairment of systemic cardiac output. The anesthetic considerations for children undergoing adenotonsillectomy for chronic airway obstruction are significant. These children are at high risk for complications such as laryngospasm, desaturation, stimulation of pulmonary hypertension and cardiac dysfunction, pulmonary edema, postoperative upper airway obstruction, and respiratory arrest. Because of underlying condition(s) (facial abnormalities, neuromuscular disease, etc.), successful adenotonsillar surgery may not improve upper airway obstruction significantly, especially in the immediate postoperative period when edema, bleeding and the effects of anesthetics and analgesics are present.

Airway Obstruction↗