Critical Care Alert – August 1, 2010
August 1, 2010
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Medical Emergency Teams: Does Rapid Response Make a Difference?
The use of a rapid response system (RRS), or medical emergency team (MET), has become established as a patient safety measure to ensure early detection of patient compromise. -
Editor's Note
This issue deals with two key topics in the ongoing discussion about how critical care should be organized: rapid response systems (also called medical emergency teams or rapid response teams) for identifying patients not in ICUs who are at risk for life-threatening deterioration, and around-the-clock intensivist staffing in the ICU. -
Do Rapid Response Teams Reduce Hospital Mortality or Simply Increase Costs?
In the past decade, rapid response teams (RRTs) were broadly implemented to identify and treat patients on medical and surgical wards at risk for catastrophic deterioration and thus prevent death. -
Special Feature: Should All ICUs Have 24/7 In-house Intensivist Coverage?
One of the hottest topics in critical care these days is whether all ICUs should be staffed around the clock, seven days a week (24/7), by physicians with special training and qualifications in critical care (intensivists). -
Pharmacology Watch: Aggressive Modification of Cardiovascular Risk Factors
In this issue: Aggressive approach to CVD reÿ -
Clinical Briefs in Primary Care supplement