Abstract
Ward patients may deteriorate to the point of unexpected admission to the intensive care unit or even cardiac arrest and death. Almost all hospitals have established systems for responding to such in-hospital emergencies. Numerous hospitals broadcast such emergencies through a public address system, termed the “Code Blue” system. Other hospitals have medical emergency teams (MET) specializing in response to such emergencies. Recently, the Rapid Response System (RRS) has also been introduced. The purpose of the RRS is to prevent in-hospital emergencies based on the presence of preliminary signs prior to the development of the in-hospital emergency. It is estimated that approximately half of the serious adverse events may be preventable. Patients often exhibit signs of physiological deterioration several hours (median: 6 hours) prior to cardiac arrest. Theoretically, this short period may be sufficient to perform interventions that prevent severe deterioration.
In introducing RRS for in-hospital emergencies, the function of hospitals and the number of physicians should be considered. There are numerous hospitals in Gunma Prefecture implementing the “Code Blue” system. Moreover, hospitals staffed with a larger number of physicians providing acute care have MET and RRS.
