Physiological antecedents and ward clinician responses before medical emergency team activation

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the frequency, characteristics and timing of objectively measured clinical instability in adult ward patients in the 24 hours preceding activation of the medical emergency team (MET). We also examined ward clinician responses to documented clinical instability. Design, setting and participants: A descriptive, exploratory design with a retrospective medical record audit. We descriptively analysed data from 200 ward patients reviewed by the MET at a tertiary teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia, during 2014. Main outcome measures: Frequency and characteristics of urgent clinical review (UCR) criteria breaches in the 24 hours preceding MET activation, and in-hosp..