C56-36 Characteristics and Outcomes of Rapid Response Team Activations Occurring in the Emergency Department

Abstract Rationale Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) are dedicated groups of providers who respond to patient clinical deterioration outside of the intensive care unit (ICU). RRTs were originally implemented on the wards with the intent of improving patient outcomes. However, at some institutions, the RRT can respond to admitted patients in the Emergency Department (ED) who are awaiting inpatient bed availability. Little is known about this population, and no comparisons have been made between outcomes of ED RRTs and RRTs taking place in other hospital locations. Therefore, we aimed to characterize the ED RRT population and examine their outcomes compared to the non-ED RRT cohort. Methods We reviewed the first 200 consecutive RRTs occurring in calendar year 2022 at an urban, quaternary care academic institution. Only index RRTs during a single hospitalization were included. We collected baseline patient demographics in addition to RRT characteristics. Outcomes of interest included RRT escalations to cardiac arrest or intubation in addition to hospital mortality and length-of-stay (LOS). If available, illness severity was measured using the Epic deterioration index (DI) closest to the time of RRT start. Univariate associations were made using the chi-square or Fisher exact for categorical variables, and Wilcoxon rank-sum for continuous variables, as appropriate. A two-sided p 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Statistical analyses were performed with Stata 15.1 (Statacorp, College Station, Texas). This study was approved by the Thomas Jefferson University Institutional Review Board (iRISID-2025-0172). Results After exclusions, we identified 98 non-ED and 80 ED RRTs. Baseline demographics were largely similar between the two groups with the exception of race, as there were more White patients in the non-ED RRT cohort. Indications for RRT were found to be similar between the two groups. Despite similar DI scores, patients in the ED-RRT cohort were more likely to be escalated to invasive mechanical ventilatory support (IMV). There was no difference in escalation to cardiac arrest. Patients in the non-ED RRT cohort had significantly longer hospital LOS, but no difference was seen in hospital mortality between the two groups (Table). Conclusions This study provides descriptive insight into an understudied population, namely ED patients receiving RRT intervention. ED RRTs were more likely to involve escalation to IMV, whereas non-ED RRTs had longer hospital LOS. Further investigation into patient factors contributing to these findings will enable tailoring of site-specific RRT resources to ensure the best possible outcomes. This abstract is funded by: None