Abstract
Aims: To examine interventions and timing of emergency team calls in hospitals with or without a medical emergency team (MET).
Methods: Interventions were recorded, categorized and classified as critical care interventions (e.g. airway intervention, ventilation and use of inotropic drugs); ward level interventions (e.g. fluids, oxygen by mask); assessment, physical examination and investigations.
Results: Only 5 of the 2376 calls were free of critical care interventions. For non-cardiac arrest-related calls, MET hospitals had a lower proportion of airway, circulation and drug-related interventions and a higher proportion of ward level interventions. The majority of calls were between 0601 and 1200 h and cardiac arrest survival was greatest in the 1200-2400 h period. Overall median time at the scene was 25 min.
Conclusions: Nearly all emergency team calls required critical care type interventions. Emergency team calls show a unique temporal pattern for both MET and control hospitals. These findings have important organizational and resource-related implications for hospitals evaluating and establishing rapid response systems.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 25-30 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Resuscitation |
Volume | 81 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Medical emergency team
- Interventions
- Cardiac arrest
- Intensive Care