CRM VIDEOS
CRMDEEN_at_aol.com
Sun, 5 Oct 1997 11:16:21 -0400 (EDT)
Good Morning, gang.
I'm sure you've all been wondering where I've been. Well, its been a busy
week, what can I say. I guess its time for me throw out my opinion ( a few
cents worth) on videos.
First, I totally agree with Brent, and the others, on Saudia 163. We
used it in the Air Force for a few years. It was a film of wonderment and
unbelievability. The students would watch with amazement that a crew could
be so lousy, and so bad. They shook their heads, and said the situation was
simply "stupid", and then they would say "we'll never be like that". The
film is entertaining, but teaches very little. I constantly discourage its
use and try to confiscate and trash every copy I run across; not only due to
the lack of training value, but also because of the copyright issue.
Training videos do not need to be long; in fact long ones are useless.
Recently the Air Force has produced numerous "introductory" videos that
applaud the value of CRM training, and have good testimonials toward such.
The videos send two messages; the leaders of the Air Force like CRM, and the
training WILL be good. I don't think it's good to have a 30 to 40 minute
video introduce a topic with very little demonstration. A recent video we
received is a very long testimonial of a special operations mission during
Desert Storm, that had a significant change of plans. The challenge was to
orchestrate a "resuce" operation, and several agencies were called upon to
participate, with very short notice and minimum planning. The event was a
successful "teamwork" story. Unfortunately, the inclusion of "gun camera
video" from the fighters involved makes the audience think this is a video
for fighters.
Hence the challenge to using videos that were not produced by CRM
experts; The message can get so complicated, it's lost. This particular
video is a great story of teamwork, but the team is larger than a flight
crew. Our transport aviators think its a movie for fighters, and then tribal
warfare erupts.
Another introductory video had the honorable John Nance explaining the
virtrues of CRM training, standing by a F-16 fighter. While the words and
message John was speaking was "crew", the image sent "fighter". The moral of
this observation? What the video SHOWS will teach more than the WORDS.
Successful CRM facilitation is done by the facilitator, not the video.
Videos should be short examples of the class topic. Study the LOFT
debriefing guidelines from NASA/AMES and you'll see that several short
segments, to illustrate the topic, are what is more successful.
As for Hollywood productions: There are numerous good samples. If one
has the ability to capture the segments, and your company doesn't have a
problem with copyright laws in using it , go for it. I always wish I could
use segements such as these. The late Gene Roddenberry was an aviator
himself, trained in multi-crew aircraft in time of war. His visions of
successful teamwork are easily found in the Star Trek movies. One of my
collegues and I often debate "who is the best aircraft commander of all
time--James Kirk or Jon-Luc Picard.? Interestingly enough, he (and others)
fails to acknowledge the Janeway character as a viable "Captain". After all,
"it's not a job for women", they say. Some men just don't get it, do they,
ladies?
Back to the topic: If you want to see the most realistic LOFT scenario
envisioned, check the opening sequence of Star Trek 2, where Kristie Alley,
an upgrading captain, is experiencing the Kobayashi Maru. Leadership and
Assertiveness is evident in all Trek movies, with "Generations" giving a
great demonstration of referent power: a young and inexperienced Captain has
the retired Kirk on the command deck, and keeps reading his body language to
confirm support of his intentions. The best sequence of teamwork might be the
whale rescue in Star Trek 4, as the crew is racing to resuce whales from a
whaling ship. The image? Every person on the crew is concentrating on their
individual duties, and the team functions synergistically. Later in the
film, Kirk fails as a leader by chasing everyone off the sinking ship and
takes on the task of releasing the cargo himself. I don't think he's the
greatest, as he reverts from the 9.9. to 9.1 orientation too quickly.
Tired of Star Trek examples? Check out "Crimson Tide". This movie
depicts an old style warrier-type commander who gets a partial order to
attack, and the first officer who sees the need to confirm. The damaged
equipment challenges the confirmation requirement, so there is an interesting
example of assertiveness by a junior commander.
The two popular medical television shows, "ER" and "Chicago Hope" have
had several episodes dealing with teamwork. The recent ER introduced a doctor
from another country (Austrailia I think), and when she was given the lead of
a trauma situation, she used terminology from her culture, and it slowed the
effectiveness of the nursing staff, who had to keep asking her to explain
what she meant. Communication, terminology, cultural differences, training
differences; all evident. She also directed the team to work at a slower pace
than they were used to, to reduce the chance of error. A particular episode
of Chicago Hope showed a nurse refusing to administer a medication to a
patient because she believed the doctor was requesting the wrong amount, and
the drug would cause a serious side-effect. The nurse and doctor had a
heated argument, the nurse refused, and the doctor did it himself. The
patient was awake and witnessing the arguement. The doctor then tried to get
the hospital commander to fire the nurse. When the nurse explained that it
was her opinion that the medication was wrong, the doctor said nurses are not
entitled to have opinions. On the same show, a young and inexperienced
surgeon removed the wrong organ from a patient, while the entire surgical
team watched silently (looking at each other as if to wonder who would speak
up). After the operation was completed, the head nurse privately informed
the doctor he had removed the wrong organ.
In conclusion (finally you say), I recently came into possession of a
training tape from a major airline. The value of this tape is just what we
are looking for. It is also inexpensive to produce, which is my quest to my
company. This tape shows several "scenes" of crews doing routine, but
ineffective, CRM behaviors. One example, the number one flight attendent
enters the cockpit, and offers to brief the crew on the passenger load. The
captain interupts her, says the briefings are always the same, and asks for
some coffee for he and the FO. The image is the Captain doesn't want to
interact with the cabin crew. Another clip shows the flight attendent
entering the cockpit for an arrival update, and then the conversations go
into "off duty" plans. The crew misses radio calls, and gets behind the
aircraft. Lack of a Sterile Cockpit. Not to be negative; the film does
show an overbearing captain being told by the first officer to slow down the
requests, and prioritize the challenges.
This video is done in a simulator, with one camera, in one place, and
shows two-man, three-man crews, and has some flight attendent interactive
scenes. There are good and bad examples. Ideal for illustrating a CRM
behavior-skill. There is hope for us yet.
For those who read this epistle, I thank you. Great discussions, keep
at it.
Greg Deen
HTI