Usability testing of new Auckland HEMS packs

Scott Orman's avatarAuckland HEMS

By Dr Chris Denny, Auckland HEMS Medical Director

In the early days of Auckland HEMS, we loosely ‘bolted on’ our equipment to the existing paramedic gear. As time passed and we forged a strong collaborative relationship with our paramedic colleagues, the performance gap in our gear required a solution. One year ago we held an ‘Ergonomic Equipment Exercise’, led by Dr. Samantha Bendall (on sabbatical from Sydney, NSW). From this evening of pack testing we learned to focus on integration. Several design concepts guided our work:

a) Functional coherence
b) Facilitation of communication
c) Facilitation of task accomplishment
d) Adaptable space
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We are now testing our prototype packs.
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This testing will move through three phases:
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Phase I: ‘Kicking the tyres”
Phase II: Simulation-based usability testing (carrying the packs, winching the packs, airway tasks, vascular access tasks, splinting tasks,…)
Phase III: Live operational testing
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Here is a…

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Levitan, the “Laryngeal Handshake” and the “Cartilaginous Cage”

Pearls from Rich Levitan on surgical airways: Do the “Laryngeal Handshake” to identify airway anatomy and the Cricothyroid “Cartilaginous Cage” is protective

Laryngeal handshake and cartilaginous cage
From Rich Levitan’s slides with permission

Continue reading “Levitan, the “Laryngeal Handshake” and the “Cartilaginous Cage””

PODCAST #20 – Dr Helgi Johannsson – Wrongfooted by Checklists

Http://about.me/timleeuwenburg's avatarRural Doctors Net

It was a pleasure to catch up with Icelander-turned Londoner Dr Helgi Johannsson regarding the ‘Wrongfooted‘ case.

Helgi is a prolific blogger – using Social Media to disseminate both useful nuggets of clinical information under the #TGDed hashtag (trauma gas education) and also occasional trash tweets on the weekend. Follow him at @TraumaGasDoc.

I was intrigued by the ‘Wrongfooted‘ case posted by Helgi – a classic case of the WHO checklist not being used properly. Several important lessons from this case, not least the need to use checklists appropriately … and the power of Social Media to disseminate important safety messages. Contrast this with the failure to disseminate safety lessons from a nearly identical case, as articulated subsequently by medical director Dr Dermot O’Riordan – the frustration being that the lessons learned from Dermot’s case weren’t made available to a wider audience.

Clearly ‘Wrongfooted

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