Human factors and simulation in emergency medicine

Abstract

This consensus group from the 2017 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference “Catalyzing System Change through Health Care Simulation: Systems, Competency, and Outcomes” held in Orlando, Florida on May 16, 2017 focused on the use of human factors and simulation in the field of emergency medicine. The human factors discipline is often underutilized within emergency medicine but has significant potential in improving the interface between technologies and individuals in the field. The discussion explored the domain of human factors, its benefits in medicine, how simulation can be a catalyst for human factors work in emergency medicine, and how emergency medicine can collaborate with human factors professionals to affect change. Implementing human factors in emergency medicine through healthcare simulation will require a demonstration of clinical and safety outcomes, advocacy to stakeholders and administrators, and establishment of structured collaborations between human factors professionals and emergency medicine, such as in this breakout group.