Annals of emergency medicine
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Emergency physicians witness the effects of injury and violence every day. Traumatic brain injury, assault-related trauma, motor vehicle crashes, and opioid overdoses make up only some of these injuries-many of which can be prevented and better understood. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (Injury Center) is uniquely poised to measure the toll of injury and violence on the lives of Americans, to communicate this public health burden, and to reduce the factors that increase their risk. ⋯ The Injury Center seeks to prevent violence and injuries and to reduce their consequences. For more than 20 years, Injury Center researchers have investigated factors that put Americans at risk through surveillance and research and translated these findings into evidence-based strategies and interventions. Many of these efforts are directly relevant to emergency medicine through preventing injuries and violence to save lives.
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Emergency physicians work in a fast-paced environment that is characterized by frequent interruptions and the expectation that they will perform multiple tasks efficiently and without error while maintaining oversight of the entire emergency department. However, there is a lack of definition and understanding of the behaviors that constitute effective task switching and multitasking, as well as how to improve these skills. ⋯ This task switching causes disruption in the primary task and may contribute to error. A framework is described to enhance the understanding and practice of these behaviors.