Support for teams under pressure

Incident and emergency management teams are often required to work under considerable pressure and heavy workloads, during times of stress and fatigue. 

Researchers have developed two new tools that help support and enhance individual and team capabilities during emergencies. 

Both of these tools are part of a suite of six tools produced by the Improving decision-making in multi-team environments project to enhance emergency management teamwork. Access all six tools on the CRC's Online Tools page in the 'Teamwork tools' section. 

Hazard Note 92 presents the Emergency Management Non-Technical Skills tool, developed by A/Prof Chris Bearman and Dr Peter Hayes (CQUniversity) to help enhance non-technical skills, such as cognitive, social or personal skills, to complement existing technical skills. It focuses on seven non-technical skills – communication, coordination, cooperation, leadership, situation awareness, decision making, and coping with stress/fatigue – and provides descriptions and behavioural markers that can be used to determine how effectively these skills are being used and where improvements can be made.

You can learn more about the Emergency Management Non-Technical Skills tool by downloading Hazard Note 92.

Hazard Note 93 presents the Key Tasks Cognitive Aid, developed by Dr Hayes, A/Prof Bearman, Mark Thomason AFSM (South Australian Country Fire Service) and Peter Bremner (CQUniversity) to support emergency management team performance by providing a checklist of key tasks that need to be completed during an emergency at regional and state control centres. It prompts leaders to ensure that their teams are undertaking the tasks that are most important to effective performance during a crisis, covering five phases of a control centre’s incident management process: readiness, escalation, coordination, de-escalation and termination.

You can learn more about the Key Tasks Cognitive Aid by downloading Hazard Note 93.