What question did this study set out to answer?

This study investigates how the presence of emergency response expertise affects teamwork in immediate responder groups during disaster scenarios.

March 25, 2026

Teamwork Processes in Immediate Responder Groups With or Without Emergency Response Expertise: Controlled Experimental Simulation Study

Puntos clave

This study investigates how the presence of emergency response expertise affects teamwork in immediate responder groups during disaster scenarios.
Conducted a controlled simulation of a traffic accident scenario with 28 groups and 76 participants.
Participants completed the Team Process Survey measuring various teamwork processes.
Groups included emergency response professionals and medical laypeople.
Transitional processes, action processes, and intrapersonal processes were evaluated.
Groups with ERP showed significantly higher transitional processes (M=3.2) compared to those without ERP (M=2.78).
No significant differences were found in action or intrapersonal processes across groups.
The effect size for transitional processes indicated a medium level of impact from ERP presence.

Resumen

Introduction: Immediate responder groups in disaster response need to self-organize to provide aid before the arrival of the professional response. These groups consist of individuals in proximity to the event and may vary in emergency response expertise from emergency response professionals (ERP) to medical laypeople. While ERP training typically includes some teamwork education, research on ERP expertise on teamwork in immediate responder groups is limited. This study investigates how teamwork processes differ between groups with or without an ERP in a controlled simulated scenario. Methods: Twenty-eight groups (76 participants) participated in a traffic accident scenario. Participants completed the Team Process Survey afterwards, measuring transitional, action, and intrapersonal processes. Transitional processes include goal setting and planning, action processes involve monitoring goal progress, and intrapersonal processes concern maintaining motivation and handling conflicts. The scenario involved two critically injured people and limited resources. An ERP was present in eight groups. The controlled simulation allowed for the standardization of situational and environmental factors. Results: A significant difference in transitional processes was found between groups with (M=3.2, SD=0.9) and without ERP (M=2.78, SD=0.6), Welch’s t(31.3) = −2.05, p = .05, with a medium effect size, Cohen’s d = −0.55. However, no difference was found in the action, Welch’s t(31.8) = −0.51, p = .61, or intrapersonal, Welch’s t(44.9) = 0.45, p = .65, process dimensions. Conclusion: The presence of emergency response expertise in immediate responder groups can be expected to support transitional team processes by facilitating shared reflection on the groups’ goals, strategies, and plans in between periods of individuals’ taskwork efforts. However, further training in leadership in line with current best practices in intra-professional teamwork for both ERP and in first aid education for medical laypeople could potentially improve action and intrapersonal team processes in the immediate responder phase of disaster response.

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