Author/Authors :
Kim, Sei Won Department of Internal Medicine - Daejeon St. Mary’s Hospital - College of Medicine - The Catholic University of Korea, Daejeon , Lee, Hwa Young Department of Internal Medicine - Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital - College of Medicine - The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu , Han, Mi Ra Department of Nursing - Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital - College of Medicine - The Catholic University of Korea - Seoul, Korea , Lee, Yong Suk Department of Nursing - Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital - College of Medicine - The Catholic University of Korea - Seoul, Korea , Kang, Eun Hyoung Department of Nursing - Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital - College of Medicine - The Catholic University of Korea - Seoul, Korea , Jang, Eun Ju Department of Nursing - Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital - College of Medicine - The Catholic University of Korea - Seoul, Korea , Jeun, Keum Sook Department of Nursing - Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital - College of Medicine - The Catholic University of Korea - Seoul, Korea , Kim, Seok Chan Department of Internal Medicine - Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital - College of Medicine - The Catholic University of Korea - Seoul, Korea
Abstract :
Background: To ensure patient safety and improvements in the quality of hospital care, rapid response teams (RRTs) have been
implemented in many countries, including Korea. The goal of an RRT is early identification and response to clinical deterioration in
patients. However, there are differences in RRT systems among hospitals and limited data are available.
Methods: In Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, the St. Mary’s Advanced Life Support Team was implemented in June 2013. We retrospectively
reviewed the RRT activation records of 287 cases from June 2013 to December 2016.
Results: The median response time and median modified early warning score were 8.6 minutes (interquartile range, 5.6 to 11.6 minutes) and 5.0 points (interquartile range, 4.0 to 7.0 points), respectively. Residents (35.8%) and nurses (59.1%) were the main activators
of the RRT. Interestingly, postoperative patients account for a large percentage of the RRT activation cases (69.3%). The survival rate
was 83.6% and survival was mainly associated with malignancy, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II score, and the time
from admission to RRT activation. RRT activation with screening showed a better outcome compared to activation via a phone call in
terms of the intensive care unit admission rate and length of hospital stay after RRT activation.
Conclusions: Malignancy was the most important factor related to survival. In addition, RRT activation with patient screening showed
a better outcome compared to activation via a phone call. Further studies are needed to determine the effective screening criteria
and improve the quality of the RRT system.
Keywords :
medical emergency team , rapid response system , screening , survival
