Abstract Rationale Rapid Response Team (RRT) activations represent critical moments in patient care, where timely intervention can significantly influence outcomes. Although these systems are designed to provide standardized and equitable care, limited evidence exists on whether racial and ethnic differences contribute to disparities in RRT characteristics or outcomes. This study evaluated racial differences in immediate post-RRT disposition and RRT trigger types at a large academic medical center. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted of all RRT activations between January and August 2025 at a tertiary-care academic medical center. Each activation record included patient race, age, gender, immediate disposition, prior RRT activation during admission and RRT trigger category (cardiac, respiratory, neurologic, or other). Categorical variables were analyzed using Pearson’s Chi-square test in SPSS V31.0. As age wasn’t normally distributed among race categories, Kruskal-Wallis test was used for comparison. Results Among 414 RRT activations, 49.5% of patients were Black or African American (n = 205), 25.4% Non-White Hispanic (n = 105), 16.4% White (n = 68), and 8.7% Other/Unknown (n = 36). Mean age of the cohort was 59.1 ± 15.9, there was no statistically significant difference in age among racial groups (p = 0.068). RRTs were most frequently triggered by Cardiac causes among White (61.8%) and Black (52.7%) patients, while Non-White Hispanic patients exhibited a more even distribution between cardiac (47.6%) and respiratory (33.3%) triggers. Asian/Other/Unknown race patients showed relatively higher proportions of neurologic (47.2%) and respiratory (38.9%) triggers compared with other groups. “Other” triggers, including metabolic abnormalities, bleeding, or staff concern, were least common overall (19.3%). No significant racial differences were observed in RRT trigger type distributions: cardiac (p = 0.173), respiratory (p = 0.381), neurologic (p = 0.222), or other triggers (p = 0.260). Prior RRT activations were similarly distributed by race (χ²=1.651, p = 0.648), suggesting no disparity in repeat activations or recurrence patterns. The association between race and immediate post-RRT disposition was not statistically significant (χ²=10.278, p = 0.592), with the majority of activations across all races resulting in transfer to a higher level of care (44.9%) or continued monitoring in the same room (51.4%). Conclusions In this single-center cohort, neither RRT trigger types nor immediate post-activation dispositions differed significantly by race. While cardiac events were the predominant trigger among most racial groups, subtle descriptive differences did not reach statistical significance. These findings suggest that, within this institution, RRT activations are applied equitably across racial groups with no measurable bias in activation trigger patterns or immediate outcomes. Nevertheless, multi-institutional studies are needed to assess the generalizability of these findings. This abstract is funded by: None
Madendere et al. (Fri,) studied this question.