Crew Resource Management (CRM) with Neil Jeffers

In this session I will be talking with Neil Jeffers on CRM or
Crew Resource Management. We will examine a working definition of
CRM, why it’s of fundamental importance to Neil, the history of
CRM, the symbiotic link between human factors and CRM, and the
detrimental aspects of collective agreement. In the conversation
we will also examine some of the theory, threat and error
management, CRM tools that Neil uses and advocates, and finally
how debrief can be a fundamental tool to improving CRM.


Neil has been a Pilot with London’s Air Ambulance for 16 years
and has been Chief Pilot for the last 8 years. Neil has
flown over 8,000 hours since he started flying in 1997 and has
over a 5,000-hour track record in instructing and examining. Neil
was also an experienced crew resource management instructor and a
certified first responder and has been a volunteer emergency
responder with London Ambulance Service for 5 years. In the
interview we cover:


A working definition of CRM

Why CRM is so fundamental to high performing teams 

Brief history of CRM from aviation into medicine

Flash points within a scene that mandate good CRM

The linkage between CRM and Human Factors

Deep dive on the hierarchy of CRM in order of importance -
Decision Making, Leadership & Management, Situational
awareness, communication (Closed loop, chunked, tone &
intonation).

Negative aspects of collective agreement

Threat and error management

Dunning Kruger effect

CRM tools that Neil deploys and recommend

Debriefing; The utility of debriefing



Some of the concepts that Neil mentions includes:


Threat/error management:
https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/downloads/22642/en


Dunning-Kruger effect:
https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/dunning-kruger-effect


Cognitive Dissonance:
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-cognitive-dissonance-2795012


My thanks to Neil for an insightful and engaging interview.