Clinical debriefing in the emergency department

[Editorial]
Clinical debriefing in the ED has become a popular topic. Many ED staff and clinical leaders are enthusiastic about team conversations after clinical encounters – to defuse high emotion, promote learning and reflect on ways to improve future care.

There is increasing published experience from centres who have developed and implemented clinical debriefing programmes. Tools have been published to guide these conversations (DISCERN,1 INFO,2 STOP,3 TALK4), together with suggestions to prepare team members to facilitate them. Outstanding examples of performance improvements – in ED and other contexts – following the introduction of clinical debriefing have attracted significant attention.5

COVID-19 has sharpened this focus. As clinicians needed to rapidly learn from their peers' experience and develop new ways of delivering care, many turned to ‘huddles’ and debriefs after shifts or high-risk encounters such as airway management – to support team and system improvement.