Use of medical emergency team responses to reduce hospital cardiopulmonary arrests

Background: Medical emergency team ( MET) responses have been implemented to reduce inpatient mortality, but data on their efficacy are sparse and there have been no reports to date from US hospitals. Objectives: To determine how the incidence and outcomes of cardiac arrests have changed following increased use of MET. Methods: Objective criteria for MET activation were created and disseminated as part of a crisis management program, after which there was a rapid and sustained increase in the use of MET. A retrospective analysis of clinical outcomes was performed to compare the incidence and mortality of cardiopulmonary arrest before and after the increased use of MET. Results: A retrospective analysis of 3269 MET responses and 1220 cardiopulmonary arrests over 6.8 years showed an increase in MET responses from 13.7 to 25.8 per 1000 admissions ( p< 0.0001) after instituting objective activation criteria. There was a coincident 17% decrease in the incidence of cardiopulmonary arrests from 6.5 to 5.4 per 1000 admissions ( p = 0.016). The proportion of fatal arrests was similar before and after the increase in use of MET. Conclusions: Increased use of MET may be associated with fewer cardiopulmonary arrests.