Miscommunication is a major cause of medical errors and patient adverse events. These events can be prevented with high-quality handovers. Handovers occur at all stages in a patient’s care and may even be more frequent for a trauma patient given the potential for operative and critical care involvement. High-quality handovers are complex in that it involves multiple individuals, each with their own priorities, experience and knowledge, in varying environments (pre-hospital, emergency department, operating room, wards). As such, challenges in handovers may stem from individual factors, system factors and the physical and social environment. By using a shared mental model and adopting a standard handover tool, medical errors can be reduced and ultimately provide better patient care.