The article "Teamwork as an Essential Component of High-Reliability Organizations" by David P. Baker, Rachel Day, and Eduardo Salas emphasizes the critical role of teamwork in achieving high reliability, particularly in health care organizations. The authors argue that high-reliability organizations (HROs) are those that operate in hazardous environments with minimal errors despite the potential for catastrophic consequences. They highlight that teamwork is a fundamental characteristic of HROs, enabling effective coordination and communication among team members. The article reviews the key characteristics of HROs, such as hypercomplexity, tight coupling, extreme hierarchical differentiation, multiple decision-makers, high accountability, immediate feedback, compressed time, and synchronized outcomes. It also discusses the importance of teamwork in these environments, noting that it is essential for successful performance in hypercomplex, tightly coupled, hierarchical, time-compressed, and synchronized systems. The authors provide a comprehensive overview of team characteristics, including specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) necessary for effective teamwork. They emphasize that effective teamwork requires mutual performance monitoring, conflict resolution, situational awareness, and workload management. The article also reviews strategies for promoting teamwork, such as selecting team members with the right KSAs, modifying tasks and workflows, and providing team training. Team training, particularly in the form of crew resource management (CRM), has been shown to enhance safety-related attitudes, communication, coordination, and error management skills. The authors identify several challenges for the health care community to improve teamwork and enhance reliability. These include developing a theoretical model of team performance, using proven instructional strategies for team training, adapting training to specific health care needs, and integrating teamwork into professional training and education. They conclude by advocating for the integration of team concepts into health care practices and professional training to achieve higher reliability and patient safety.The article "Teamwork as an Essential Component of High-Reliability Organizations" by David P. Baker, Rachel Day, and Eduardo Salas emphasizes the critical role of teamwork in achieving high reliability, particularly in health care organizations. The authors argue that high-reliability organizations (HROs) are those that operate in hazardous environments with minimal errors despite the potential for catastrophic consequences. They highlight that teamwork is a fundamental characteristic of HROs, enabling effective coordination and communication among team members. The article reviews the key characteristics of HROs, such as hypercomplexity, tight coupling, extreme hierarchical differentiation, multiple decision-makers, high accountability, immediate feedback, compressed time, and synchronized outcomes. It also discusses the importance of teamwork in these environments, noting that it is essential for successful performance in hypercomplex, tightly coupled, hierarchical, time-compressed, and synchronized systems. The authors provide a comprehensive overview of team characteristics, including specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) necessary for effective teamwork. They emphasize that effective teamwork requires mutual performance monitoring, conflict resolution, situational awareness, and workload management. The article also reviews strategies for promoting teamwork, such as selecting team members with the right KSAs, modifying tasks and workflows, and providing team training. Team training, particularly in the form of crew resource management (CRM), has been shown to enhance safety-related attitudes, communication, coordination, and error management skills. The authors identify several challenges for the health care community to improve teamwork and enhance reliability. These include developing a theoretical model of team performance, using proven instructional strategies for team training, adapting training to specific health care needs, and integrating teamwork into professional training and education. They conclude by advocating for the integration of team concepts into health care practices and professional training to achieve higher reliability and patient safety.