  Preventable medical errors are a severe problem in healthcare, causing over
400,000 deaths per year in the US in hospitals alone. In acute care, the branch
of medicine encompassing the emergency department (ED) and intensive care units
(ICU), error rates may be higher to due low situational awareness among
clinicians performing resuscitation on patients. To support cognition, novice
team leaders may rely on reference guides to direct and anticipate future
steps. However, guides often act as a fixation point, diverting the leader's
attention away from the team. To address this issue, we conducted a qualitative
study that evaluates a collaborative cognitive aid co-designed with clinicians
called Visual TASK. Our study explored the use of Visual TASK in three
simulations employing a projected shared display with two different interaction
modalities: the Microsoft Kinect and a touchscreen. Our results suggest that
tools like the Kinect, while useful in other areas of acute care like the OR,
are unsuitable for use in high-stress situations like resuscitation. We also
observed that fixation may not be constrained to reference guides alone, and
may extend to other objects in the room. We present our findings, and a
discussion regarding future avenues in which collaborative cognitive aids may
help in improving situational awareness in resuscitation.
