ABSTRACT
Human factors, systems and industrial engineers, ergonomists, and patient safety researchers will find new and largely untapped opportunities that have been overlooked in the past. Human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) is a broad, interdisciplinary science based on psychology and engineering that deals with the interface between humans and their work systems. HF/E science takes a multilevel approach that focuses on individuals, teams, tasks, tools, systems, and organizations to best understand the complexity of the work system. Modern healthcare has been called the most complex domain of work known to humans, a statement that was referring to healthcare delivered in controlled settings. Emergency medical services providers face the complexities and the additional factors of delivering healthcare in a mobile, volatile, unpredictable, and unforgiving environment. The following are human factor constructs implicated and engineerable in pit crew resuscitation: teamwork; design of clinical decision guidance; implicit/explicit coordination; cognitive artifacts; interpersonal communication; and transactive memory systems.
