Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:51:44.825Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Identifying Core Competencies for Medical Command and Control Teams Managing Covid-19

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2023

Carl-Oscar Jonson
Affiliation:
Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology, and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
Jenny Pettersson
Affiliation:
Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology, and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
Marc Friberg
Affiliation:
Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology, and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
Anton Björnqvist
Affiliation:
Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology, and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
Peter Berggren
Affiliation:
Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology, and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
Björn Johansson
Affiliation:
Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
Erik Prytz
Affiliation:
Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology, and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Introduction:

The Covid-19 pandemic strained most of the world’s health care organizations to, and sometimes beyond, their limits. To anticipate, coordinate, mobilize, and prioritize hospital resources, Sweden’s health care regions established regional medical command and control teams according to the medical major incident structure. This command structure was initially developed based on an all-hazards approach focused primarily on sudden mass casualty incidents with a relatively short time frame. Covid-19 management was active for several months with a most intense operations period during the spring of 2020. This study aimed at identifying competence needs by employing a co-creative approach with members of the staff involved in the pandemic management.

Method:

Data was collected and analyzed using a modified Delphi consensus method. The respondents were subject matter experts serving in the regional medical command and control teams during the COVID-19 pandemic. One workshop was held to gather opinions, which were included as statements in a consensus survey and answered by the participants after the first workshop. A second workshop was held to discuss statements that did not reach initial consensus in the survey and establish final consensus.

Results:

The consensus agreed statements were sorted into five themes, which constituted the collective agreement of medical command and control core abilities. The five core competence themes were: Situation report, Team organization, Co-operation, Competence management, and Analysis. The consensus agreed statements highlighted competencies needed for creating situation reports, organizing medical command and control teams, effective cross-organization co-operation, decision-making, and medical intelligence analysis.

Conclusion:

The core competencies of medical command and control identified in the present study can be used to further affirm current learning objectives and to formulate future learning objectives for education and exercises. The evaluation approach could potentially be used as a post-incident review to fine-tune an organization’s training plan.

Type
Tabletop Presentations
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine