My work is grounded in medical questions, but carried out in close collaboration with other disciplines such as cognitive science and human factors, to better understand how people and organizations function under pressure.
An important focus is how we can improve:
- acute medical response and prehospital care
- education and training, particularly through simulation
- decision-making and medical command teamwork, communication, and performance under stress
Stop the Bleed and early life-saving interventions
A large part of my research concerns the first minutes after an incident, before healthcare services have arrived. I have been involved in research on Stop the Bleed, with a focus on how laypersons can identify and manage life-threatening bleeding. These early interventions are crucial, as many deaths occur in the prehospital phase. This research includes:
- how people interpret and respond in emergency situations
- how first aid training can be designed and evaluated
- how collaboration between the public and professional healthcare can be strengthened
From individual to system
Medical outcomes are not determined solely by treatments, but also by how people, technology, and organizations interact. I therefore study disaster medicine as a sociotechnical system, from individual decision-making at the incident site to the strategic management of healthcare, with a focus on improving overall system performance.
