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Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine
Medknow Publications on behalf of the Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine
ISSN: 0972-5229 EISSN: 0972-5229
Vol. 12, No. 2, 2008, pp. 77-81
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Bioline Code: cm08017
Full paper language: English
Document type: Review Article
Document available free of charge
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Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2008, pp. 77-81
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Rapid response systems
Hillman, Ken
Abstract
Intensive care medicine was for many years practiced within the four walls of an intensive care unit (ICU). Evidence then emerged that many serious adverse events in hospitals were preceded by many hours of slow deterioration, resulting in multi-organ failure and potentially preventable admissions to the ICU. Ironically, these admissions may have been prevented if the skills within the ICU had been available to the patient on the general ward at an earlier stage. The concept of a Medical Emergency Team (MET) was developed to enable staff from the ICU to rapidly identify and respond to serious illness at an earlier stage and, hopefully, prevent serious complications. Since then, other forms of rapid response and outreach systems have been developed. Increasingly, physicians working in ICUs can see the benefit of the early management of serious illness in order to improve patient outcome.
Keywords
Cardiac arrest, medical emergency team, outreach, patient safety, rapid response teams
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© Copyright 2008 Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine. Alternative site location: http://www.ijccm.org/
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