The use of cognitive aids to assist with the resuscitation of emergency department patients: a scoping review

Cognitive aids are used to reduce practitioners' mental load during clinical emergencies. Emerging evidence suggests the utility of cognitive aids in clinical settings such as anaesthesia, but little is known about their use within emergency medicine. This scoping review describes the extent and type of evidence on how cognitive aids assist in the resuscitation of patients in the Emergency Department (ED). The search strategy aimed to locate English language studies in the peer-reviewed literature on resuscitation or resuscitative procedures performed on patients of any age in the ED. Searches were performed using Medline, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science, from 1 January 2015 to 9 January 2025. Simulation and non-simulation studies and both electronic and non-electronic aids were included. Studies for non-ED settings were excluded. We included all study designs and data were analysed descriptively. The search yielded 4873 citations which were imported into Covidence. Following abstract/title review, 3275 citations were excluded; 74 full texts were reviewed, resulting in inclusion of 45 studies. The included studies demonstrated considerable heterogeneity in design, population, and context, with low evidence quality overall. This scoping review describes the broad array of cognitive aids available to assist ED resuscitation and highlights that although supporting evidence is generally weak there appears to be little harm from cognitive aid use. The findings indicate a need for multicentre trials of cognitive aids assessing real-world effectiveness and patient-centred outcomes. Future studies should also ensure transparent detailing of cognitive aid design and implementation to facilitate reproducibility and practical uptake.