Cognitive Aids for the Management of Thoracic Anesthesia Emergencies: Consensus Guidelines on Behalf of a Canadian Thoracic Taskforce

A cognitive aid is a tool used to help people perform actions accurately and efficiently. Similarly themed cognitive aids may be collated into a manual to provide relevant information for a specific context (e.g., operating room emergencies). Expert content and design are paramount to facilitate the utility of a cognitive aid, especially during a crisis when accessible memory may be limited and distractions may impair task completion. A cognitive aid distinctly does not represent a rigid approach to problem solving or a replacement for decision making. Successful cognitive aid implementation requires dedicated training, access, and culture integration. Here we present a set of evidence-based cognitive aids for thoracic anesthesia emergencies developed by a Canadian Thoracic Taskforce.