Abstract 11233: A Trigger and Response System for Preventing Cardiac Arrest in the Intensive Care Unit
Background: Although patients in the ICU are closely monitored, some ICU cardiac arrest events may be preventable. In this study we sought to reduce the rate of ICU cardiac arrests. Methods: This was a prospective study of a novel clinical trigger and response tool deployed in the ICUs of a single, tertiary academic medical center. An interrupted time series approach was used to assess the impact of the tool on ICU cardiac arrests. Results: Forty-three patients experienced an ICU cardiac arrest in the pre-intervention epoch (6.79 arrests per 1000 discharges) and 59 patients experienced an ICU cardiac arrest in the intervention epoch (7.91 arrests per 1000 discharges). In the intervention epoch, the clinical trigger and response tool was activated 106 times over a 1-year period, most commonly due to unexpected new or worsening hypotension. There was no step change in arrest-rate (2.24 arrests/1000 patients, 95%CI -1.82, 6.28, p=0.28) or slope change (-0.02 slope of arrest rate, 95%CI -0.14, 0.11, p=0.79) comparing the pre-intervention and intervention time epochs (see Figure). Cardiac arrests occurring in the pre-intervention epoch were more likely to be deemed ‘potentially preventable’ than those in the intervention epoch (25.6% prior to the intervention vs. 12.3% during the intervention, OR 0.58, 95%CI 0.20, 0.88, p<0.01). Conclusions: A trigger-and-response tool did not reduce the incidence of ICU cardiac arrest. Arrests occurring after introduction of the tool were less likely to be rated as ‘potentially preventable.’