title: Patient physiological status at the emergency department-ward interface and emergency calls for clinical deterioration during early hospital admission.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship between physiological status at the emergency department-ward interface and emergency calls (medical emergency team or cardiac arrest team activation) during the first 72 hours of hospital admission.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Ward adverse events are related to abnormal physiology in emergency department however the relationship between physiology at the emergency department-ward interface and ward adverse events is unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive and exploratory design.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved 1980 patients at three hospitals in Melbourne Australia: i) 660 randomly selected adults admitted via the emergency department to medical or surgical wards during 2012 and who had an emergency call; and ii) 1320 adults without emergency calls matched for gender, triage category, usual residence, admitting unit and age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age was 78 years and 48·8% were males. The median time to the first emergency call was 18·8 hours and ≥1 abnormal parameters were documented in 34·9% of patients during the last hour of ED care and 47·1% of patients during first hour of ward care. Emergency calls were significantly more common in patients with heart rate and conscious state abnormalities during the last hour of emergency care and abnormal oxygen saturation, heart rate or respiratory rate during the first hour of ward care. Medical emergency team afferent limb failure occurred in 55·3% patients with medical emergency team activation criteria during first hour of ward care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of physiological status at the emergency department-ward interface to guide care planning and reasons for and outcomes of medical emergency team afferent limb failure are important areas for future research.
authors.affiliation: Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.|School of Nursing and Midwifery and Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.|Eastern Health - Deakin University Nursing & Midwifery Research Centre, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3801-2456
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Considine
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Daryl
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Alfred Health, Intensive Care Unit, Prahran, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pilcher
authors.affiliation: Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.|School of Nursing and Midwifery and Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Currey
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D000075902:Clinical Deterioration; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010343:Patient Admission; D014218:Triage
keywords: emergency nursing; patient safety; rapid response teams; risk management