BLS Certification Manual: Effective Team Dynamics

Effective Team Dynamics

Effective BLS teams communicate clearly, assign specific responsibilities, and work toward the same priorities. Good teamwork can reduce confusion and help maintain high-quality CPR.

Clear Roles

Each team member should understand:

• Their assigned task
• Who is coordinating the response
• When their role should change
• How to communicate concerns

Avoid unnecessary duplication of tasks.

Closed-Loop Communication

Closed-loop communication helps confirm that instructions are heard and understood.

For example:

1. The team leader directs a specific person to perform a task
2. That person confirms the instruction
3. The task is completed
4. Completion is reported back to the team leader

Clear Messages

Use short, specific instructions. Avoid vague statements directed at the entire group. Instead of saying, “Someone get the AED,” direct the instruction to a specific responder.

Speak Up

Team members should communicate if they notice:

• Incorrect compression rate or depth
• Excessive ventilation
• An unsafe situation
• Equipment problems
• Rescuer fatigue
• A missed step
• A change in the person's condition (for example, announcing that a pulse has returned so the team can stop compressions and reassess breathing)

This kind of ongoing attentiveness to changes in the person's condition and the team's response is called situational awareness.

Respectful Correction

Corrections should focus on the task and patient care rather than the individual. Team members should be willing to receive and act on appropriate feedback.

Know Your Limits

Ask for assistance when needed. Do not perform a task you do not know how to perform safely.

Reassessment

The team should continually reassess:

• CPR quality
• AED prompts
• Airway and ventilation
• Rescuer fatigue
• Changes in condition
• Readiness for transfer to professional responders