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Rapid response teams bring critical care expertise directly to the patient's bedside. These mobile units save lives and are revolutionizing culture in participating hospitals. Executive leadership plays a crucial role in the success of this initiative.
Henry Ford Hospital initiated a pilot for rapid response teams on December 15, 2004. The mobile teams supported nurses in two units of the Detroit-based hospital. In the first two weeks, nurses called the team 10 times. By January that number grew to 80, and by the end of that month, the program began to spread throughout the hospital.
"The benefit for the overall continuum of care was very clear to us as soon as we implemented the pilot rapid response team," says Tony Armada, CHE, president and chief executive officer of Henry Ford Hospital and Health Network. "It's a complementary model that speaks highly of patient care, of commitment to quality and professionalism, and of our desire to support our nursing staff, especially in times of need."
Once the teams were implemented, the hospital's mortality rate dropped almost 17 percent. Although the hospital introduced other interventions that also may have impacted those numbers, experiences at other hospitals confirm that rapid response teams are saving lives.
The impact on patient care is sizeable. Executives armed only with 10 essentials can lead the charge.
1 Patients Live
When the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) began its 100,000 Lives Campaign (page 30), it flagged rapid response teams as the most promising of its six lifesaving initiatives. The organization predicted that the teams had the potential to save 60,000 lives over an 18-mondi period-more than the other five initiatives combined. Rapid response teams target mortality among patients who are not in an intensive care unit. Nurses and other staff members are charged with calling the team when a patient's condition worsens or if something goes awry, helping to avoid unnecessary deaths.
According to studies cited in the IHIs Getting Started Kit: Rapid Response Teams How-to Guide, more dian two-thirds of patients who suffer a cardiac arrest will exhibit signs of deterioration approximately six to eight hours before the arrest. The rapid response team is designed to intervene before the arrest, to assess and stabilize the condition, and if necessary, move the...