The impact of an admission avoidance rapid response respiratory car in collaboration with the Northwest Ambulance Service

Author(s):  
Emma Rickards ◽  
Lisa Ascough ◽  
Sarah Sibley ◽  
Onnor Hampson ◽  
Elaine Gossage
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Pilbery ◽  
M. Dawn Teare

<h3>Study aim</h3><p>This study aims to determine the impact of the red arrest teams (RATs) on survival to 30 days and return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) at hospital.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p class="FirstParagraph">A retrospective cohort study analysing routinely collected data was undertaken. All adult (≥18 years) OHCAs entered onto the YAS computer aided dispatch (CAD) system between the 1st October, 2015 and 30th September, 2017 were included if the patient was resuscitated, and the cause of the arrest was considered to be medical in origin. Multivariable logistic regression models were created to enable adjustment for common predictors of survival and ROSC.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>During the 2-year data collection period, 15,151 cardiac arrests that were attended by Yorkshire Ambulance Service. After removing ineligible cases, 5,868 cardiac arrests remained. RATs attended 2,000/5,868 (34.1%) incidents, with each RAT attending a median of 13 cardiac arrests (IQR 7–23, minimum 1, maximum 78).</p><p class="FirstParagraph">The adjusted odds ratios suggest that a RAT on scene is associated with a slight increase in the odds of survival to 30 days (OR 1.01, 95%CI 0.74–1.38) and odds of ROSC on arrival at hospital (OR 1.13, 95%CI 0.99–1.29), compared to the odds of not having a RAT present, although neither results are statistically significant.</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p class="FirstParagraph">The presence of a RAT paramedic was associated with a small increase in survival to 30 days and ROSC on arrival at hospital, although neither were statistically significant. Larger prospective studies are required to determine the effect of roles such as RAT on outcomes from OHCA</p>


Author(s):  
Ali Coppola ◽  
Sarah Black ◽  
Ruth Endacott

Abstract Background Evidenced-based guidelines on when to cease resuscitation for pulseless electrical activity are limited and support for paramedics typically defaults to the senior clinician. Senior clinicians include paramedics employed to work beyond the scope of clinical guidelines as there may be a point at which it is reasonable to cease resuscitation. To support these decisions, one ambulance service has applied a locally derived cessation of resuscitation checklist. This study aimed to describe the patient, clinical and system factors and examine senior clinician experiences when ceasing resuscitation for pulseless electrical activity. Design and methods An explanatory sequential mixed method study was conducted in one ambulance service in the South West of England. A consecutive sample of checklist data for adult pulseless electrical activity were retrieved from 1st December 2015 to 31st December 2018. Unexpected results which required exploration were identified and developed into semi-structured interview questions. A purposive sample of senior clinicians who ceased resuscitation and applied the checklist were interviewed. Content framework analysis was applied to the qualitative findings. Results Senior clinicians ceased resuscitation for 50 patients in the presence of factors known to optimise survival: Witnessed cardiac arrest (n = 37, 74%), bystander resuscitation (n = 30, 60%), defibrillation (n = 22, 44%), return of spontaneous circulation (n = 8, 16%). Significant association was found between witnessed cardiac arrest and bystander resuscitation (p = .00). Six senior clinicians were interviewed, and analysis resulted in four themes: defining resuscitation futility, the impact of ceasing resuscitation, conflicting views and clinical decision tools. In the local context, senior clinicians applied their clinical judgement to balance survivability. Multiple factors were considered as the decision to cease resuscitation was not always clear. Senior clinicians deviated from the checklist when the patient was perceived as non-survivable. Conclusion Senior clinicians applied clinical judgement to assess patients as non-survivable or when continued resuscitation was considered harmful with no patient benefit. Senior clinicians perceived pre-existing factors with duration of resuscitation and clinical factors known to optimise patient survival. Future practice could look beyond a set criteria in which to cease resuscitation, however, it would be helpful to investigate the value or threshold of factors associated with patient outcome.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 2961-2969
Author(s):  
Minfei Yang ◽  
Lanlan Zhang ◽  
Yuwei Wang ◽  
Yue Zhan ◽  
Xiaofei Zhang ◽  
...  

Objective To assess the impact of a regional rapid response system (RRS) implemented in a Chinese Joint Commission International Hospital on the timely treatment of patients with serious adverse events (SAEs). Methods Clinical SAEs, activation periods, reasons for RSS activation, and patient outcomes were assessed using SAE response sheets at admission to the hospital and over 31 months of follow-up. Results We found that 192 events were called by medical staff and 6 were called by auxiliary staff. Reasons for the 385 RRS activations included: unconsciousness (133; 34.5%), and airway obstruction and absent carotid pulse (49 each; 12.7%). The average arrival time of the medical emergency team was 2.4 ± 0.1 minutes. There were 123 (62.1%) RRS activations during daytime working hours (8:00–17:00); CPR was performed in 86 (43.4%) cases. Outcomes of RRS were: vital signs stabilized in 82 (41.4%) patients and 61 (30.8%) patients were transferred to ICU. Conclusion Our experience showed that the regional RRS has led to better integrated multidisciplinary cooperation and reduced time for treating patients with SAEs, resulting in success of the RRS.


2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo David Scatena Gonçales ◽  
Joyce Assis Polessi ◽  
Lital Moro Bass ◽  
Gisele de Paula Dias Santos ◽  
Paula Kiyomi Onaga Yokota ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the implementation of a rapid response team on the rate of cardiorespiratory arrests in mortality associated with cardiorespiratory arrests and on in-hospital mortality in a high complexity general hospital. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of cardiorespiratory arrests and in-hospital mortality events before and after implementation of a rapid response team. The period analyzed covered 19 months before intervention by the team (August 2005 to February 2007) and 19 months after the intervention (March 2007 to September 2008). RESULTS: During the pre-intervention period, 3.54 events of cardiorespiratory arrest/1,000 discharges and 16.27 deaths/1,000 discharges were noted. After the intervention, there was a reduction in the number of cardiorespiratory arrests and in the rate of in-hospital mortality; respectively, 1.69 events of cardiorespiratory arrest/1,000 discharges (p<0.001) and 14.34 deaths/1,000 discharges (p=0.029). CONCLUSION: The implementation of the rapid response team may have caused a significant reduction in the number of cardiorespiratory arrests. It was estimated that during the period from March 2007 to September 2008, the intervention probably saved 67 lives.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. e4.1-e4
Author(s):  
Emma Knowles ◽  
Neil Shephard ◽  
Tony Stone ◽  
Lindsey Bishop-Edwards ◽  
Enid Hirst ◽  
...  

BackgroundIn recent years a number of Emergency Departments (EDs) in England have closed, or been replaced by a lower acuity facility such as an Urgent Care Centre. With further re-organisation of EDs expected, the ‘closED’ study aimed to provide research evidence to inform the public, NHS, and policymakers when considering future closures. Our aim was to understand the impact of ED closure on populations and emergency care providers, the first study to do so in England. In this session I will focus on the impact on the ambulance service.MethodsWe undertook a controlled interrupted time series analysis assessing changes in ambulance service activity, following the closure of Type 1 EDs in England. Data was sourced data from Ambulance service computer-assisted dispatch (CAD) records. The resident catchment populations of five EDs, closed between 2009 and 2011, were selected for analysis. Five control areas were also selected. The primary ambulance outcome measures were: ambulance service incident volumes and mean ‘call to destination’ time.ResultsThere was some evidence of a large increase of 13.9% [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.5% to 24.4%] in the total number of emergency ambulance incidents compared with the control areas. There was an increase of 3.9 minutes (95% CI 2.2 to 5.6 minutes) in the meantime taken from a 999 ‘red’ call being answered to a patient arriving at hospital.ConclusionsGiven such major reorganisation of emergency and urgent care we might expect some changes in emergency and urgency care activity. Our study found some changes in the ambulance service measures. The increase in emergency ambulance incidents, over and above the increase in the control area, suggests that the closure of the EDs in our study may have contributed to an additional increase in workload within the ambulance services in these areas.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-242
Author(s):  
Cheryl Gagne ◽  
Susan Fetzer

Background Unplanned admissions of patients to intensive care units from medical-surgical units often result from failure to recognize clinical deterioration. The early warning score is a clinical decision support tool for nurse surveillance but must be communicated to nurses and implemented appropriately. A communication process including collaboration with experienced intensive care unit nurses may reduce unplanned transfers. Objective To determine the impact of an early warning score communication bundle on medical-surgical transfers to the intensive care unit, rapid response team calls, and morbidity of patients upon intensive care unit transfer. Methods After an early warning score was electronically embedded into medical records, a communication bundle including notification of and telephone collaboration between medical-surgical and intensive care unit nurses was implemented. Data were collected 3 months before and 21 months after implementation. Results Rapid response team calls increased nonsignificantly during the study period (from 6.47 to 8.29 per 1000 patient-days). Rapid response team calls for patients with early warning scores greater than 4 declined (from 2.04 to 1.77 per 1000 patient-days). Intensive care unit admissions of patients after rapid response team calls significantly declined (P = .03), as did admissions of patients with early warning scores greater than 4 (P = .01), suggesting that earlier intervention for patient deterioration occurred. Documented reassessment response time declined significantly to 28 minutes (P = .002). Conclusion Electronic surveillance and collaboration with experienced intensive care unit nurses may improve care, control costs, and save lives. Critical care nurses have a role in coaching and guiding less experienced nurses.


2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
April N. Kapu ◽  
Arthur P. Wheeler ◽  
Byron Lee

BackgroundVanderbilt University Hospital’s original rapid response team included a critical care charge nurse and a respiratory therapist. A frequently identified barrier to care was the time delay between arrival of the rapid response team and arrival of the primary health care team.ObjectiveTo assess the impact of adding an acute care nurse practitioner to the rapid response team.MethodsAcute care nurse practitioners were added to surgical and medical rapid response teams in January 2011 to diagnose and order treatments on rapid response calls.ResultsIn 2011, the new teams responded to 898 calls, averaging 31.8 minutes per call. The most frequent diagnoses were respiratory distress (18%), postoperative pain (13%), hypotension (12%), and tachyarrhythmia (10%). The teams facilitated 360 transfers to intensive care and provided 3056 diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Communication with the primary team was documented on 97% of the calls. Opportunities for process improvement were identified on 18% of the calls. After implementation, charge nurses were surveyed, with 96% expressing high satisfaction associated with enhanced service and quality.ConclusionsTeams led by nurse practitioners provide diagnostic expertise and treatment, facilitation of transfers, team communication, and education.


2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (s2) ◽  
pp. 34-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen K. Giuliano

Surveillance and monitoring each represent a distinct process in patient care. Monitoring involves observation, measurement, and recording of physiological parameters, while surveillance is a systematic, goal-directed process based on early detection of signs of change, interpretation of the clinical implications of such changes, and initiation of rapid, appropriate interventions. Through use of an illustrative clinical example based on Early Warning System scoring and rapid response teams, this article seeks to distinguish between nurse monitoring and surveillance to demonstrate the impact of surveillance on improving both care processes and patient care. Using a clinical example, differences between surveillance and monitoring as a trigger for deployment of the rapid response team were reviewed. The use of surveillance versus monitoring resulted in a mean reduction in rapid response team deployment time of 291 minutes. The median hospital length of stay for patients whose clinical care included using surveillance to initiate the deployment of the rapid response team was reduced by 4 days. Monitoring relies on observation and assessment while nursing surveillance incorporates monitoring with recognition and interpretation of the clinical implications of changes to guide decisions about subsequent actions. The clinical example described here supports that the use of an automated surveillance system versus monitoring had a measurable impact on clinical care.


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