Prolonged Field Care Podcast 40: Team Dynamics With Doug And Dennis

Whether working on a casualty with a small team of medics or as a single medic with the help of other non-medic team members as helpers, someone has to be in charge of the situation in order to maintain a global view of priorities. The minute you get sucked in to do a specific task you are losing situational awareness of the complete patient and environment. If you are working on your own as a lone medic with no helper you have to fill both the technician and team leader role. Treat life threats through your TCCC/MARCH sequence and then mentally step back and take in the whole picture. When the situation permits and as you begin a more detailed secondary exam, start writing down each problem as you encounter it and then prioritize what is going to kill or cause permanent damage first with. Making a plan and being proactive is what separates the great medics from less experienced medics who are constantly chasing their tails reactively. If you are not taking care of patients on a daily basis training with the small team can help delineate roles and responsibilities. This is why if you are doing medical training you should have your team or platoon leadership involved along with anyone else who will be helping.

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