Resuscitation Leadership, Crisis Management and High-Stakes OSCE Preparation

Develop the clinical structure, communication and leadership skills required to lead complex resuscitation scenarios confidently in the MRCEM OSCE.

The ED Team Leader Course by Kung Medics is an intensive, scenario-based programme designed for Emergency Medicine doctors preparing for MRCEM OSCE stations that test leadership, prioritisation, decision-making and team management during acute resuscitation.

The course focuses on the skills needed to take control of a deteriorating or critically unwell patient while demonstrating a clear, safe and organised approach under pressure.

Rather than teaching resuscitation algorithms in isolation, candidates are trained to lead the whole scenario: recognise priorities, allocate roles, communicate effectively, reassess continuously and explain the next steps clearly to the examiner.

Who Is This Course For?

This course is particularly suitable for:

• Doctors preparing for the MRCEM OSCE

• Emergency Medicine trainees

• Doctors working in the Emergency Department

• International Medical Graduates preparing for UK Emergency Medicine examinations

• Candidates who know ALS, APLS, EPALS or trauma principles but struggle to lead scenarios

• Doctors who become disorganised under time pressure

• Candidates who find resuscitation stations overwhelming

• Doctors who are hesitant when delegating tasks

• Candidates who need more practice verbalising clinical priorities

• Doctors who want realistic team-leader simulation before the exam

What Does the Course Focus On?

The programme concentrates on high-stakes resuscitation scenarios commonly relevant to Emergency Medicine assessment, including principles drawn from:

• Adult advanced life support

• Paediatric advanced life support

• European paediatric advanced life support

• Major trauma and ATLS-style structured assessment

• Peri-arrest deterioration

• Shock

• Airway emergencies

• Cardiac arrest

• Respiratory emergencies

• Neurological emergencies

• Major trauma

• Critically unwell adult and paediatric patients

The course is an independent MRCEM OSCE preparation programme and is not an ALS, APLS, EPALS or ATLS provider course.

The Role of the ED Team Leader

A strong team leader must do more than identify the diagnosis.

Candidates learn how to:

• Take control of the resuscitation area

• Introduce themselves and establish leadership

• Assess the immediate situation rapidly

• Identify life-threatening problems

• Prioritise interventions

• Allocate clear roles

• Request appropriate monitoring and investigations

• Call for senior or specialist help early

• Use closed-loop communication

• Maintain situational awareness

• Reassess after each intervention

• Anticipate deterioration

• Plan definitive management

• Summarise and hand over effectively

The course helps candidates avoid the common OSCE mistake of trying to perform every task themselves.

Structured Leadership in Resuscitation

Candidates are taught a repeatable framework for leading emergency scenarios.

This includes:

1. Immediate safety and overview

2. Calling for appropriate help

3. Allocating team roles

4. Structured ABCDE assessment

5. Treating life-threatening problems as they are identified

6. Requesting appropriate investigations

7. Reassessing response to treatment

8. Identifying the likely diagnosis and reversible causes

9. Escalating to senior or specialist teams

10. Planning definitive care and disposition

11. Summarising clearly to the examiner

This structure is designed to keep candidates organised even when the scenario changes rapidly.

Adult Resuscitation Scenarios

Candidates practise leadership in adult emergency scenarios based on advanced life-support principles.

Scenarios may include:

• Cardiac arrest

• Peri-arrest arrhythmias

• Ventricular fibrillation

• Pulseless ventricular tachycardia

• PEA and asystole

• Severe respiratory failure

• Anaphylaxis

• Sepsis and septic shock

• Major haemorrhage

• Electrolyte emergencies

• Toxicological emergencies

• Post-resuscitation care

The emphasis is on leadership, prioritisation and communication rather than memorising an algorithm alone.

Paediatric Resuscitation Scenarios

The course also develops confidence in leading paediatric emergencies using structured paediatric resuscitation principles.

Candidates may practise scenarios involving:

• Respiratory failure

• Shock

• Paediatric cardiac arrest

• Seizures

• Anaphylaxis

• Sepsis

• Trauma

• Reduced consciousness

• Deteriorating infants and children

Candidates are expected to recognise the differences between adult and paediatric resuscitation and adapt their communication, equipment and treatment priorities accordingly.

Trauma Leadership

Major trauma scenarios are included to help candidates develop an organised ATLS-style approach to the injured patient.

Candidates practise:

• Activating the trauma team

• Performing a structured primary survey

• Identifying immediate threats

• Managing catastrophic haemorrhage

• Airway assessment with cervical spine protection

• Recognition of life-threatening chest injuries

• Circulatory resuscitation

• Neurological assessment

• Exposure and temperature control

• Requesting major haemorrhage protocols where appropriate

• Coordinating imaging and specialist involvement

• Planning transfer to theatre, interventional radiology or critical care

The course focuses on leading the trauma team rather than simply reciting the primary survey.

Communication and Delegation

Communication is a major part of team-leader performance.

Candidates practise how to:

• Give short and clear instructions

• Address team members directly

• Confirm that instructions have been understood

• Ask for updates

• Challenge unsafe actions appropriately

• Summarise changes in the patient's condition

• Keep the team informed

• Communicate with relatives or other teams where relevant

• Provide a concise handover

The goal is to demonstrate calm, visible and organised leadership.

Closed-Loop Communication

Candidates learn to use closed-loop communication effectively:

• Give the instruction

• Name the team member

• Receive confirmation

• Confirm completion

• Reassess the result

This helps reduce confusion and demonstrates safe team leadership during OSCE scenarios.

Crisis Resource Management

The course introduces key crisis-resource-management principles, including:

• Leadership and followership

• Situational awareness

• Workload distribution

• Avoiding fixation errors

• Anticipating deterioration

• Sharing the mental model

• Using all available resources

• Recognising when the plan is not working

• Escalating early

These principles are especially important when the scenario becomes complex or unexpected.

How to Think Like an OSCE Team Leader

Candidates are trained to verbalise their thinking in a way that allows the examiner to understand their clinical priorities.

This includes:

• Saying what you are worried about

• Explaining why you are taking an action

• Identifying what you expect to happen next

• Stating when you would escalate

• Recognising when treatment has failed

• Explaining disposition and ongoing care

The aim is to make clinical reasoning visible without becoming overly verbose.

Common Team-Leader Mistakes

The course specifically addresses common problems such as:

• Starting treatment without taking an overview

• Failing to allocate roles

• Trying to do every task personally

• Forgetting to reassess

• Missing reversible causes

• Delaying senior help

• Ignoring abnormal observations

• Failing to verbalise the plan

• Poor communication with the team

• Becoming fixated on one diagnosis

• Losing structure when new information is introduced

• Ending the station without disposition or handover

Candidates receive targeted feedback on these areas.

Scenario-Based Teaching

This is a highly interactive course.

Candidates rotate through realistic resuscitation stations where they take the role of ED Team Leader.

Each scenario may include:

• A simulated patient

• Team members

• Changing observations

• Investigation results

• Clinical deterioration

• Interruptions

• Examiner prompts

• Escalation decisions

The scenarios are followed by detailed feedback and discussion.

Feedback and Debriefing

After each station, candidates receive structured feedback covering:

• Clinical priorities

• Leadership

• Communication

• Delegation

• Decision-making

• Use of algorithms

• Situational awareness

• Reassessment

• Escalation

• OSCE technique

Candidates are encouraged to repeat difficult scenarios and apply the feedback immediately.

Preparation for MRCEM OSCE

The course is specifically designed to support MRCEM OSCE preparation.

Candidates practise how to:

• Enter the station with a clear plan

• Establish leadership early

• Use a structured ABCDE approach

• Prioritise life-threatening problems

• Delegate effectively

• Verbalise clinical reasoning

• Respond to examiner information

• Demonstrate safe escalation

• Summarise clearly at the end of the station

The course does not reproduce confidential examination content and does not guarantee examination success.

Relevant for FRCEM and Clinical Practice

Although designed primarily for MRCEM OSCE candidates, the skills taught are also relevant to:

• FRCEM OSCE preparation

• Emergency Medicine training

• Workplace-based assessments

• Resuscitation-team leadership

• Simulation training

• Senior clinical development

Why Train With Kung Medics?

Candidates benefit from:

• Emergency Medicine-focused teaching

• Realistic resuscitation scenarios

• Experienced senior clinicians

• Adult and paediatric emergency simulation

• Trauma scenarios

• Repeated team-leader practice

• Small-group teaching

• Immediate structured feedback

• Examination-focused coaching

• A supportive environment for candidates who lack confidence

• Practical training rather than lecture-only teaching

Our aim is to help candidates move from knowing what should happen to being able to lead it confidently and safely.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, candidates should be better able to:

• Lead an Emergency Department resuscitation scenario

• Establish control of the team

• Use ABCDE consistently

• Delegate tasks appropriately

• Communicate using closed-loop principles

• Apply adult and paediatric resuscitation principles

• Lead structured trauma assessment

• Recognise deterioration

• Reassess after interventions

• Identify reversible causes

• Escalate appropriately

• Demonstrate situational awareness

• Verbalise clinical reasoning clearly

• Provide an effective handover and disposition plan

• Approach MRCEM OSCE team-leader stations with greater confidence

Important Course Status

The ED Team Leader Course is an independent examination-preparation and clinical-skills programme delivered by Kung Medics.

The course incorporates educational principles relevant to ALS, APLS, EPALS and ATLS-style resuscitation scenarios; however:

• It is not an official ALS course

• It is not an official APLS course

• It is not an official EPALS course

• It is not an official ATLS course

• It does not award provider certification for any of these programmes

• It does not replace formal provider-course training

• It does not guarantee success in the MRCEM or FRCEM examination

Candidates should continue to follow current clinical guidelines, local policies and their own scope of practice.

Book the ED Team Leader Course

If you know the algorithms but become hesitant when asked to lead, this course is designed to bridge that gap.

Practise taking control of realistic adult, paediatric and trauma resuscitation scenarios, receive structured feedback and develop a clear leadership approach before your MRCEM OSCE.

Book the ED Team Leader Course for MRCEM OSCE with Kung Medics and learn how to lead the resuscitation room with structure, confidence and clinical safety.