Situational Awareness

Question 1

What is SA

Answer 1

• Refers to an individual’s perception of environmental elements within the volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning and the projection of their status in the near future
• Involves continually monitoring what is happening and in the talks environment in order to understand what is going on and what might happen in the next minuets or hours

Question 2

Key factors of SA are

Answer 2

Get info
Understand the info
Think ahead

Question 3

The nature of the info includes assessing

Answer 3

The situational elements including the pt, environment, task and time
Consider whether the elements are static or dynamic and changing
Statice elements requires you gather it once and refresh occasionally
Dynamic elements require you to be observant and aware of changing details which include/effect the pt’s condition

Question 4

Info Delivery

Answer 4

You collect info either in a passive or active manner
Active - checking vital signs and asking other healthcare providers for info
It is important you do not rely on passive info to be delivered to you
Important to talk to others

Question 5

Info sources are

Answer 5

People, tools, devices and documents

People - pt’s and other healthcare workers

Question 6

How to collect the necessary info

Answer 6

Scan and search - be proactive in seeking info from environment and people around you
Pay attention - be observant to elements
Remain watchful - elements/situations change rapidly (expect the unexpected)
Communicate - verbalized thoughts and communicate with coworkers

Question 7

Understanding the info

Answer 7

Must comprehend or assign meaning to the info gathered in order to form a comprehensive picture of the situation that will form

Question 8

Understanding and assigning meaning by

Answer 8

Compare - info in your existing knowledge with the situation
Critique - info you collected, check integrity of info (accuracy, completeness, source and relevance)
Diagnose - by considering info meaning and relevance to current situations

Question 9

Think ahead

Answer 9

Once in the info has been gathered and understood
It must be used to draw conclusions about the situations status in the short- , mid-, and long term
Consider how various factors/elements could affect the situation

Question 10

Potential changes to satisfactory SA

Answer 10

Several factors both direct and indirect can be a barrier to adequate SA such as

• increased workload
• frustrations
• stress
• interruptions and distractions
• number of factors can combine with human capabilities and limitations to result in possible obstacles to SA*

Question 11

Hierarchy and SA

Answer 11

The more layers of organizational hierarchy and a message must travel, the greater the potential for flaws in communications

Question 12

Unexpected Messages and SA

Answer 12

If the message is so unexpected that it stuns the receiver, the brain can get bogged down trying to make sense of what was just heard. This can prevent new messages from being processed

Question 13

Multiple Incoming Cues and SA

Answer 13

We can’t multitask the act of listening. What we do instead of multitasking is we interleave, we listen to one thing, then the other, then back to the first

Question 14

Emotions and SA

Answer 14

When something triggers an emotional recall of a past experience, you may, if only momentarily, zone out from the current moment as you’re flooded with the recall of a past experience. This may cause you to miss some component of the current message

Question 15

Physical Distances and SA

Answer 15

The greater the distance b/w the sender and receiver the greater the potential for miscommunications. This is especially true when the communication is over the phone

Question 16

Conflicting Messages and SA

Answer 16

When a receiver hears two messages that are in conflict with each other a decision must be made. In a high stress, time compressed environment of emergency scenes, the receiver may simply jumps to a conclusion about which piece of info is accurate

Question 17

Relationships and SA

Answer 17

Humans can give deference in favour of messages communicated by individuals the receiver has a good relationship with. We listen to and believe those we trust more than those we don’t

Question 18

Expected Messages and SA

Answer 18

When a responder feels they understand enough about what is going on at the emergency scene, they may tune out the incoming communications

Question 19

Volume of info and SA

Answer 19

The mere volume of info being shared can cause the receiver to suffer form info overload. The brain is more likely to remember the first pieces of info, the last piece of info and the info that triggers emotional responses