Medical Emergency Teams in Australia and New Zealand
Author Information
Author(s): Daryl Jones, Carol George, Graeme K. Hart, Rinaldo Bellomo, Jacqueline Martin
Primary Institution: Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, Monash University
Hypothesis
How does the introduction of Medical Emergency Teams (METs) affect ICU admissions and cardiac arrests in hospitals?
Conclusion
The introduction of MET services is associated with a significant reduction in the incidence of ward cardiac arrests admitted to the ICU.
Supporting Evidence
- 64.1% of hospitals had introduced an MET service by 2005.
- 75% of hospitals with known MET commencement dates had introduced the service by May 2002.
- The mean incidence of cardiac arrests admitted to the ICU decreased from 6.33 to 5.04 per year after MET introduction.
Takeaway
Many hospitals in Australia and New Zealand have started using Medical Emergency Teams to help patients in trouble, and this seems to help reduce the number of patients who need to go to the ICU after a cardiac arrest.
Methodology
Data was obtained from the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society database, comparing ICU admissions and cardiac arrests before and after MET introduction.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to missing data from hospitals that did not report MET status.
Limitations
The study is retrospective and observational, and the MET status is unknown for 25% of hospitals.
Participant Demographics
Hospitals in Australia and New Zealand with ICU facilities.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.0244
Confidence Interval
95% CI -0.09 to 2.67
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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