Opportunities and Risks of Algorithms and Procedural Instructions in Emergency Medicine

In everyday emergency medicine, the use of algorithms and standards has already become firmly established in many places. When determining treatment procedures, the establishment of standards competes with the individualization of treatment for the specific needs of the patient. If everyone on the team has the same algorithm in mind, this can promote communication and collaboration in the sense of a shared mindset, but it can also encourage fixation errors within the team. Even though algorithms have been shown in studies to be effective in processing specific action steps, simply changing the steps in an algorithm can produce a different result. Thus, they must be developed and tested with care. Cognitive aids can support the daily work routine, but must not replace learning and training, nor the clinical view.