THE RAPID RESPONSE TEAM REDUCES THE NUMBER OF CARDIOPULMONARY ARRESTS AND HOSPITAL MORTALITY

Abstract

PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness of the rapid response team intervention in reducing the number of cardiopulmonary arrest in adult and pediatric inpatient regular floor patients as part of the performance improvement program. METHODS: Setting: An 800-bed tertiary care medical centre. Design: Prospective observational beforeand-after study. Intervention: Introduction of the rapid response team as a performance improvement project to reduce the number of inpatient cardiopulmonary arrests. Outcome: Rate of cardiopulmonary arrest per 1000 admissions in adult and pediatric patient outside intensive care units. RESULTS: Results: The number of cardiopulmonary arrest outside the intensive care units before implementing the RRT was 75 during 2006 (rate of 3.53 per 1000 admissions) and decreased after hospital wide implementation of the RRT to 59 cardiopulmonary arrests during 2007 (rate of 2.72 per 1000 admission) and 37 during 2008 (p-value = 0.0068). The number of calls to the RRT correlated inversely with the number of arrests. CONCLUSION: Conclusion: The rapid response team is effective in reducing the number of cardiopulmonary arrest in adult and pediatric patient in a tertiary care setting. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: All hospitals need to have rapid response teams.