Human Factors in Technical Mountain Rescues

Rescues, involving the skills mentioned in this resource, may present the mountain rescuer with a whole host of additional challenges and pressures. Rescuers rely upon their ability to recall large amounts of technical skills, knowledge and experience to perform these type of rescues quickly and as safely as possible, often under time pressure, in adverse weather conditions and at night. They also have to do this knowing that one small error could have catastrophic consequences. Without effective communication, teamwork and leadership a rescue can become prolonged, confusing, uncoordinated and potentially dangerous.

Errors might occur due to a combination of:

• Over confidence.

• A sense of invincibility (“It won’t happen to me”).

• Egotism.

• Misaligned expectations (“I should be able to do this and people are expecting me to do this”).

• Taking shortcuts, feeling under pressure and rushing.

Combine these with some of the challenges regularly encountered in high pressured situations, such as;

• Mental/cognitive overload and high levels of stress

• A challenging environment (weather, noise and distractions)

• Increased physical demands and fatigue

• Difficult communication and leadership (technical language, insufficient information, double meanings, jargon and acronyms and language problems)

and you have the potential for something to go badly wrong very quickly. That’s why understanding ‘Human Factors’ (HF) is so important.

What is HF?

HF is a term used to describe the importance of cognitive and interpersonal skills, including effective communication, teamwork and leadership to safely and effectively complete a task (Misas, P. Keebler, J. and Lazzara, E. 2017). Although HF is often described in a medical or aviation setting, it is equally applicable and transferable to technical rescues.

The roots of HF

Research from NASA back in the 1970s showed that failures in communication, decision making and leadership caused most air crashes (Helmreich, R. Merritt, A. and Wilhelm, J. 1999). Since then, both the airline and healthcare industries acknowledge just how vital HF are in avoiding errors and accomplishing any task (individual or team), which is contingent of human interaction.

How can it be applied to mountain rescue?

The key to applying HF to mountain rescue situations is to be aware, appreciate, understand and acknowledge, not just the technical challenges but also the non-technical factors which contribute to the success or failure of a rescue. By doing so the overall effectiveness of the team can be increased and the risk of errors may be reduced.

There is a large amount of literature and resources on the subject of HF but a good place to read further into the subject is the Clinical Human Factors Group website which can be found at: https://chfg.org/

So here’s 10 top tips to incorporate good HF practice in rescues:

1. Be familiar with the environment and practice regularly.

2. Establish team roles and ensure everyone is aware of each other’s roles.

3. Agree upon and appoint a leader early. This person should not only have the technical knowledge but the confidence and ability to adapt their leadership style for any given situation. The leader should be ‘hands off’ in order to remain aware of and react to any changing events (situational awareness). The rest of the team should employ good ‘followship’ and also have a good awareness of the potentially dynamic situation.

4. Tasks should be distributed evenly and regular updates (sit-reps) given.

5. A plan should be formulated and communicated so all involved should have a clear understanding of the team’s goal (a shared ‘mental model’).

6. A supportive culture should be fostered. Individuals should feel valued and not afraid to speak out. Cross checking should be encouraged (fresh eyes). Avoid thinking, “I trust them so I don’t need to check.”

7. Use cognitive aids such as check lists and diagrams.

8. Communicate effectively by keeping messages clear, brief and appreciating how it would feel to be on the receiving end. A formal list of commands (script) should be used to avoid confusion and reduce errors in communication.

9. It’s difficult to get things right the first time so put the required actions into the most recent short term memory by having a practice (dry run) before doing it for real (going live).

10. Re-evaluate regularly.

References:

Helmreich, R., Merritt, A. and Wilhelm, J. (1999) ‘The Evolution of Crew Resource Management Training in Commercial Aviation’, International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 9 (11), pp. 19-32

Misas, P., Keebler, J. and Lazzara, E. (2017) Human Factors and Ergonomics of Prehospital Emergency Care Florida: Taylor & Francis Group

Bleetman, A. Sanusi, S. Dale, T. Brace, S. (2010) Human Factors and Error Prevention in Emergency, Medicine Emergency Medical Journal, 22, pp. 389-393