Soldiers of the 328th Combat Support Hospital attended a three-day training mission at the Mayo Clinic Multidisciplinary Simulation Center (MMSC) in Rochester, MN. During the mission, 30 Soldiers were provided an opportunity to improve their team efficiencies and communication in a simulated combat environment. Soldiers were assessed on how well they utilized the tools and strategies inherent within the Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) framework.
Within the MMSC facility, the soldiers established hospital operations in the areas of EMT, ICU, OR, Pharmacy, Lab, X-Ray, PAD, and the TOC. Observer Coach/Trainers (OC/Ts) from the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Readiness Training Command (MRTC) facilitated the patient flow of simulated patients through the facility providing opportunities for care teams to improve efficiencies and communication using TeamSTEPPS as they delivered patient care.
Col. Joseph Johnson, the Medical Director for MRTC, explained that “this particular mission is important because it affords soldiers and units the benefit from a practical application of TeamSTEPPS in a simulated real-world environment”.
Johnson explained further that “this type of mission lends an added step in the process of validating the unit’s readiness not only for clinical, but for all aspects of mission readiness”.
Col. Francis Whalen, Commander for this Mayo Clinic mission for the 328th Combat Support Hospital, who also works at the Mayo Clinic as an Anesthesiologist, said, “effective communication and excellent team work is so vital when attending to patients. Communication can be very difficult for a group of team members that don’t always work together.”
Whalen added that the training allowed the 328th to be a more effective Combat Support Hospital, allowing them to Fight Tonight if called upon.
“Add the extra layer of stress with being in a combat environment and communication gets exponentially more difficult,” said Whalen. “This simulated training provides our Soldiers with an evidence-based set of skills, aimed at optimizing patient outcomes by improving the way we communicate.”
TeamSTEPPS is a communication tool developed jointly by the Department of Defense and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. TeamSTEPPS centers around just that, “the team,” and the ultimate focus is on patient safety.
The framework begins with a Shared Mental Model, then underscores the key principles of team structure, communication, leadership, situation monitoring, and mutual support.
The TeamSTEPPS framework has been widely embraced by healthcare industry leaders like the Mayo Clinic.
“The brothers that started the Mayo clinic, William and Charles, were very supportive of the military, and the Mayo Clinic and their staff members feel that it is important to maintain this relationship,” comments MMSC staff member, Jane Clobes MSN, RN.
“The Mayo Clinic values the military in what it does for our country, especially in reference to medicine,” said Clobes.
The service members that come to the MMSC for TeamSTEPPS training are typically a very small fraction of the unit, then those service members are taught important tools and strategies that they can take back to their units, explained Col. Jerald Chester, Clinical Training Officer and MMSC Exercise Director.
Chester stated that the MMSC and MRTC are committed to training units like the 328th Combat Support Hospital into the foreseeable future and remain optimistic the training they provide will positively impact unit’s readiness and make a difference in patient outcomes.
Story by Capt. Cameron White