Basic Life Support (BLS) Practice Exam

What practice does the team's action best represent to prevent errors?

1. Standard operating procedures

2. Team debriefing

3. Crew resource management

4. Patient safety protocols

The correct answer is: Crew resource management

The choice that best represents the team's action to prevent errors is crew resource management. This approach emphasizes the importance of communication, teamwork, and situational awareness in high-stakes environments, particularly in healthcare settings where precise and coordinated actions are critical. Crew resource management focuses on enhancing team dynamics and ensuring that all team members are aware of their roles and responsibilities, which facilitates better decision-making and reduces the risk of errors. It's about leveraging the collective skills and knowledge of the whole team to recognize potential problems and intervene effectively. In contrast, standard operating procedures provide a set framework for how tasks should be carried out but do not inherently address the interpersonal dynamics within a team. Team debriefing is a practice used after an event to reflect on what occurred and identify areas for improvement, but it typically happens after an event has taken place rather than actively preventing errors as they occur. Patient safety protocols consist of specific guidelines aimed at protecting patients from harm, but they may not encompass all aspects of teamwork and communication essential for error prevention. Thus, the focus on teamwork, communication, and collaborative problem-solving makes crew resource management the most fitting choice for understanding how teams actively work to prevent errors.