Humans ; Hospital Rapid Response Team ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Perception

BACKGROUND: A rapid response system (RRS) aims to prevent unexpected patient death due to clinical errors and is becoming an essential part of intensive care. We examined the activity and outcomes of RRS for patients admitted to our institution's department of internal medicine. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients detected by the RRS and admitted to the medical intensive care unit (MICU) from October 2012 through August 2013. We studied the overall activity of the RRS and compared patient outcomes between those admitted via the RRS and those admitted conventionally. RESULTS: A total of 4,849 alert lists were generated from 2,505 medical service patients. The RRS was activated in 58 patients: A (Admit to ICU), B (Borderline intervention), C (Consultation), and D (Do not resuscitate) in 26 (44.8%), 21 (36.2%), 4 (6.9%), and 7 (12.1%) patients, respectively. Low oxygen saturation was the most common criterion for RRS activation. MICU admission via the RRS resulted in a shorter ICU stay than that via conventional admission (6.2 vs. 9.9 days, p = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: An RRS can be successfully implemented in medical services. ICU admission via the RRS resulted in a shorter ICU stay than that via conventional admission. Further study is required to determine long-term outcomes.
Hospital Rapid Response Team ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Internal Medicine* ; Oxygen ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: A review was performed to determine the frequency of activating medical emergency teams (MET) in surgical wards, so that resource allocation could be optimized.METHODS: A retrospective observational study was performed to determine the time and frequency when MET were deployed (N = 465) to patients (n = 387) who were admitted to the surgical ward, from March 2013 to July 2016 due to emergency situations.RESULTS: Of the 465 MET activations, 8 did not incur any further intervention. The review showed an average of 151 minutes from onset of symptoms to MET activation, and an average of 110 minutes until intervention (additional diagnosis / treatment). The number of MET activations increased year by year from 2013 to 2016. The transfer of patients to the intensive care units also increased from 34 in 2013, to 82 in 2016. The lowest number of MET activations occurred between 04:00 and 05:00, but there was no difference in the number of MET activations between day and night. However, MET activation in response to acute respiratory distress was significantly higher during the nighttime (p = 0.003).CONCLUSION: Patients admitted to a surgical ward have more serious complications. This study showed that the use of MET in surgical wards has increased year by year, and the frequency of calls between day and night was not different, except higher MET activations observed at night in patients with acute respiratory distress.
Diagnosis ; Emergencies ; Hospital Mortality ; Hospital Rapid Response Team ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Observational Study ; Resource Allocation ; Retrospective Studies

INTRODUCTION: A second-tier rapid response team (RRT) is activated for patients who do not respond to first-tier measures. The premise of a tiered response is that first-tier responses by a ward team may identify and correct early states of deterioration or establish goals of care, thereby reducing unnecessary escalation of care to the RRT. Currently, utilisation and outcomes of tiered RRTs remain poorly described. METHODS: A prospective observational study of adult patients (age ≥18 years) who required RRT activations was conducted from February 2018 to December 2019. RESULTS: There were 951 consecutive RRT activations from 869 patients and 76.0% patients had a National Early Warning Score (NEWS) ≥5 at the time of RRT activation. The majority (79.8%) of patients required RRT interventions that included endotracheal intubation (12.7%), point-of-care ultrasound (17.0%), discussing goals of care (14.7%) and intensive care unit (ICU) admission (24.2%). Approximately 1 in 3 (36.6%) patients died during hospitalisation or within 30 days of RRT activation. In multivariate analysis, age ≥65 years, NEWS ≥7, ICU admission, longer hospitalisation days at RRT activation, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance scores ≥3 (OR [odds ratio] 2.24, 95% CI [confidence interval] 1.45-3.46), metastatic cancer (OR 2.64, 95% CI 1.71-4.08) and haematological cancer (OR 2.78, 95% CI 1.84-4.19) were independently associated with mortality. CONCLUSION Critical care interventions and escalation of care are common with second-tier RRTs. This supports the need for dedicated teams with specialised critical care services. Poor functional status, metastatic and haematological cancer are significantly associated with mortality, independent of age, NEWS and ICU admission. These factors should be considered during triage and goals of care discussion.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Critical Care ; Hospital Mortality ; Hospital Rapid Response Team ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Tertiary Care Centers

The diagnosis or exclusion of pulmonary embolism (PE) remains challenging for emergency physicians. Symptoms can be vague or non-existent, and the clinical presentation shares features with many other common diagnoses. Diagnostic testing is complicated, as biomarkers, like the D-dimer, are frequently false positive, and imaging, like computed tomography pulmonary angiography, carries risks of radiation and contrast dye exposure. It is therefore incumbent on emergency physicians to be both vigilant and thoughtful about this diagnosis. In recent years, several advances in treatment have also emerged. Novel, direct-acting oral anticoagulants make the outpatient treatment of low risk PE easier than before. However, the spectrum of PE severity varies widely, so emergency physicians must be able to risk-stratify patients to ensure the appropriate disposition. Finally, PE response teams have been developed to facilitate rapid access to advanced therapies (e.g., catheter directed thrombolysis) for patients with high-risk PE. This review will discuss the clinical challenges of PE diagnosis, risk stratification and treatment that emergency physicians face every day.
Angiography ; Anticoagulants ; Biomarkers ; Catheters ; Diagnosis* ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Hospital Rapid Response Team ; Humans ; Outpatients ; Pulmonary Embolism* ; Venous Thrombosis

BACKGROUND: Medical emergency teams (METs) have shown their merit in preventing unexpected cardiac arrest. However, it might be impractical for small- or medium-sized hospitals to operate an MET due to limited manpower and resources. In this study, we sought to evaluate the feasibility of a medical alert system (MAS) that alerts all doctors involved in patient care of patient deterioration via text message using smart-phones. METHODS: The MAS was test-operated from July 2015 to September 2015, in five general wards with a high incidence of cardiac arrest. The number of cardiac arrests was compared to that of 2014. The indication for activation of MAS was decided by the intensive care unit committee of the institution, which examined previous reports on MET. RESULTS: During the three-month study period, 2,322 patients were admitted to the participating wards. In all, MAS activation occurred in 9 patients (0.39%). After activation, 7 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit. Two patients (0.09%) experienced cardiac arrest. Of 13,129 patients admitted to the ward in 2014, there were 50 cases (0.38%) of cardiac arrest (p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to use MAS to prevent unexpected cardiac arrest in a general ward.
Emergencies ; Heart Arrest ; Hospital Rapid Response Team ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intensive Care Units ; Mortality ; Patient Care ; Patients' Rooms ; Pilot Projects* ; Text Messaging

BACKGROUND: Rapid response team (RRT) is becoming an essential part of patient safety by the early recognition and management of patients on general hospital wards. In this study, we analyzed the usefulness of screening criteria of RRT used at Asan Medical Center. METHODS: On a retrospective basis, we reviewed the records of 675 cases in 543 patients that were managed by RRT (called medical alert team in the Asan Medical Center), from July 2011 to December 2011. The medical alert team was acted by requests of attending doctors or nurses or the medical alert system (MAS) criteria composed of abnormal vital sign, neurology, laboratory data and increasing oxygen demand. We investigated the patterns of MAS criteria for targeting the patients who were managed by the medical alert team. RESULTS: Respiratory distress (RR > 25/min) was the most common item for identifying patients whose condition had worsened. The criteria consist with respiratory distress and abnormal blood pressure (mean BP < 60 mmHg or systolic BP < 90 mmHg) found 70.0% of patients with deteriorated conditions. Vital sign (RR > 25/min, mean BP < 60 mmHg or systolic BP < 90 mmHg, pulse rate, PR > 130/min or < 50/min) and oxygen demand found 79.2% of them. Vital signs, arterial blood gas analysis (ABGA) with lactate level (pH, pO2, pCO2, and lactate) and O2 demand found 98.6% of patient conditions had worsened. CONCLUSIONS: Vital signs, especially RR > 25/min is useful criteria for detecting patients whose conditions have deteriorated. The addition of ABGA data with lactate levels leads to a more powerful screening tool.
Blood Gas Analysis ; Blood Pressure ; Heart Rate ; Hospital Rapid Response Team ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Lactic Acid ; Mass Screening ; Neurology ; Oxygen ; Patient Safety ; Retrospective Studies ; Vital Signs

BACKGROUND: Medical emergency teams (METs) have shown their merit in preventing unexpected cardiac arrest. However, it might be impractical for small- or medium-sized hospitals to operate an MET due to limited manpower and resources. In this study, we sought to evaluate the feasibility of a medical alert system (MAS) that alerts all doctors involved in patient care of patient deterioration via text message using smart-phones. METHODS: The MAS was test-operated from July 2015 to September 2015, in five general wards with a high incidence of cardiac arrest. The number of cardiac arrests was compared to that of 2014. The indication for activation of MAS was decided by the intensive care unit committee of the institution, which examined previous reports on MET. RESULTS: During the three-month study period, 2,322 patients were admitted to the participating wards. In all, MAS activation occurred in 9 patients (0.39%). After activation, 7 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit. Two patients (0.09%) experienced cardiac arrest. Of 13,129 patients admitted to the ward in 2014, there were 50 cases (0.38%) of cardiac arrest (p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to use MAS to prevent unexpected cardiac arrest in a general ward.
Emergencies ; Heart Arrest ; Hospital Rapid Response Team ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intensive Care Units ; Mortality ; Patient Care ; Patients' Rooms ; Pilot Projects ; Text Messaging

The rapid response system (RRS) is an innovative system designed for in-hospital, at-risk patients but underutilization of the RRS generally results in unexpected cardiopulmonary arrests. We implemented an extended RRS (E-RRS) that was triggered by actively screening at-risk patients prior to calls from primary medical attendants. These patients were identified from laboratory data, emergency consults, and step-down units. A four-member rapid response team was assembled that included an ICU staff, and the team visited the patients more than twice per day for evaluation, triage, and treatment of the patients with evidence of acute physiological decline. The goal was to provide this treatment before the team received a call from the patient's primary physician. We sought to describe the effectiveness of the E-RRS at preventing sudden and unexpected arrests and in-hospital mortality. Over the 1-yr intervention period, 2,722 patients were screened by the E-RRS program from 28,661 admissions. There were a total of 1,996 E-RRS activations of simple consultations for invasive procedures. After E-RRS implementation, the mean hospital code rate decreased by 31.1% and the mean in-hospital mortality rate was reduced by 15.3%. In conclusion, the implementation of E-RRS is associated with a reduction in the in-hospital code and mortality rates.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Education, Professional ; Female ; Heart Arrest/mortality ; *Hospital Mortality ; *Hospital Rapid Response Team ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Various tools for the acute response system (ARS) predict and prevent acute deterioration in pediatric patients. However, detailed criteria have not been clarified. Thus we evaluated the effectiveness of bradycardia as a single parameter in pediatric ARS. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients who had visited a tertiary care children's hospital from January 2012 to June 2013, in whom ARS was activated because of bradycardia. Patient's medical records were reviewed for clinical characteristics, cardiologic evaluations, and reversible causes that affect heart rate. RESULTS: Of 271 cases, 261 (96%) had ARS activation by bradycardia alone with favorable outcomes. Evaluations and interventions were performed in 165 (64.5%) and 13 cases (6.6%) respectively. All patients in whom ARS was activated owing to bradycardia and another criteria underwent evaluation, unlike those with bradycardia alone (100.0% vs. 63.2%, p = 0.016). Electrocardiograms were evaluated in 233 (86%) cases: arrhythmias were due to borderline QT prolongation and atrioventricular block (1st and 2nd-degree) in 25 cases (9.2%). Bradycardia-related causes were reversible in 202 patients (74.5%). Specific causes were different in departments at admission. Patients admitted to the hemato-oncology department required ARS activation during the night (69.3%, p = 0.03), those to the endocrinology department required ARS activation because of medication (72.4%, p < 0.001), and those to the gastroenterology department had low body mass indexes (32%, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Using bradycardia alone in pediatric ARS is not useful, because of its low specificity and poor predictive ability for deterioration. However, bradycardia can be applied to ARS concurrently with other parameters.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrioventricular Block ; Body Mass Index ; Bradycardia* ; Electrocardiography ; Endocrinology ; Gastroenterology ; Heart Arrest ; Heart Rate ; Hospital Rapid Response Team ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Pediatrics ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tertiary Healthcare