Evolution of a Rapid Response Team: Using Outcomes Data to Further Reduce Medical Emergencies

The Brooklyn Hospital Center formed a multidisciplinary rapid response team in 2009 to respond to emergent patient care situations within the non-critical care areas of the hospital. This performance improvement initiative also helped to satisfy The Joint Commission's related National Patient Safety Goal, and was consistent with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Five Million Lives Campaign. While RRTs should reduce hospital-wide cardiac arrest rates and mortality, a study published in the December 2008 Journal of the American Medical Association was unable to substantiate such reductions. The most common reason for RRT activation was difficulty breathing, followed by hypoglycemia, and seizures. As hypoglycemia may be a preventable event, further investigation into these cases was warranted as a performance improvement initiative, using the Find, Organize, Clarify, Understand, Select, Plan, Do, Check, Act methodology.