RRS’s General Principles

Rapid response systems are intended to early identify patients who are deteriorating and have an increased risk of dying, with an accurate clinical response strategy to provide proper treatment and at a certain point bring needed personnel and equipment resources to the bedside, to assist in diagnosis, and to deliver treatments efficiently and effectively. This is a complex and interdependent set of tasks and requires a systematic approach to ensure reliability and efficacy embedded in a comprehensive hospital vision and strategy of quality and patient safety with a strong commitment and anticipation of all hospital staff as well as patients and their families. In this chapter, the authors will provide an overview about the transformation of rapid response systems (RRSs) during the last decade and highlight why a system like the RRS is required to be able to complete all the needed steps in treatment to sustain quality and patient safety in care delivery. Nomenclature will be defined and the rationale for each component clarified.