title: [In-hospital emergencies at a surgical university hospital].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Emergency treatment and resuscitation within hospitals are managed by so-called medical emergency teams (MET). The present study examined the circumstances, number, initial treatment and further hospital course of in-hospital emergency cases at a level 1 university hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study of in-hospital emergencies on the surgical wards of a university hospital including all non-intensive care areas from January 2007 to June 2010 was carried out. A self-developed documentation protocol which was introduced in 2006 was used by the MET to document general patient characteristics and details of the emergency treatment. These data included the place where the emergency situation arose, the patient's assignment to a surgical discipline, a detailed description of the emergency situation, the effectiveness of basic life support measures as well as the further hospital course of the patient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 235 emergency cases were documented within the study period of 3.5 years. The frequency of in-hospital emergencies was 4/1,000 admitted patients per year. Cardiac arrest was encountered in 31,5%. Out of all patients 54,5% were admitted to an intensive care unit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The tasks of a MET at a surgical university hospital go beyond mere cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Emergency cases within the full spectrum of perioperative complications are encountered. Further multicenter studies with standardized protocols are required to analyze the management of German in-hospital emergencies.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Anaesthesiologie, Sektion Notfallmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reinhardt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernhard
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hainer
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weitz
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bruckner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weigand
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Popp
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004282:Documentation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019990:Perioperative Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D059035:Perioperative Period / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult