Medical Emergency Teams (METs) are a part of a Rapid Response System (RRS) that is intended to find patients in crisis, respond to their needs, and prevent future crises. They are usually identical to hospital “code” teams, with the exception that they respond prior to patients’ developing cardiac arrest. This recovery response has been shown to decreased unexpected hospital mortality by some 30% in hospitals in the United States, Australia, and Great Britain.

This course will review the four components of a RRS, and provide a detailed description of the most commonly utilized forms of the response component.  Patient safety will be a highlight and backdrop for all the presentations. The importance of a strong connection between MET/RRT and quality improvement will be described.  Special emphasis will be placed on logistics: how to design a system for your hospital; how to train hospital staff and change culture; how to collect and analyze data; how to find patients in need; and key clinical interventions that responders should be able to provide.

Support We gratefully acknowledge financial support for the conference from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the American Heart Association, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, the Society for Critical Care Medicine, the Canadian Resuscitation Institute and the Joint Commission Resources.