Contents

Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

Show Summary Details
Page of

Rapid response teams for the critically ill 

Rapid response teams for the critically ill
Chapter:
Rapid response teams for the critically ill
Author(s):

Ken Hillman

and Jack Chen

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199600830.003.0003
Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). © Oxford University Press, 2021. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Medicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 24 September 2021

There is a high incidence of potentially preventable deaths and serious adverse events in acute hospitals. Most of these events occur on the general wards of the hospital. The concept of rapid response systems was developed as a way of identifying seriously-ill and at-risk patients in acute hospitals at an early stage in order to improve outcomes. The system has two major components—criteria to define the deteriorating patient linked to a rapid response. The criteria are based on a combination of abnormal vital signs and observations, and the response is based on matching the patient with staff with the appropriate skills. Implementing and evaluating hospital-wide systems present new challenges that are different to our approach to a new drug or procedure. As well as agreeing to the appropriate criteria and response, the system needs leadership and support across the whole hospital, including education programmes and, monitoring with appropriate quality assurance activities. Increasingly, the specialty of intensive care is designed around the needs of the seriously ill, rather than being geographically confined within the four walls of an intensive care unit. The concept of rapid response systems is part of that process.

Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.

Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.

For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.