Despite resuscitation teams operating in extremely high stress environments and such stress being known to substantially impair optimal performance, historically very little attention has been paid to preparing these teams to mentally function at their best. Recently strategies taken from other high stress environments such as armed “special forces” teams and high performance athletes have been applied to critical care with some impressive demonstrated and potential benefits.

Several excellent critical care podcasts (links provided below at the end) by Jason Brooks, Chris Hicks, Mike Mallin & Scott Weingart provide an excellent insight into how we can specifically train our minds for the rigours of the resuscitation room, using psychological techniques from “stress inoculation training” or “stress exposure training”. Note, while this post focuses on the resus room, these techniques could be applied to other stressful situations at work or in your personal life. Continue reading →