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Cardiopulmonary arrest and mortality trends, and their association with rapid response system expansion

Jack Chen and Kenneth M Hillman
Med J Aust 2015; 202 (1): . || doi: 10.5694/mja14.01208
Published online: 19 January 2015

In reply: Levinson and Mills focus on one of the most important challenges in health care — the appropriate management of patients at the end of life. It is correct to suggest that the rapid response system-associated reduction in inhospital cardiopulmonary arrest may be due to more than just prevention through early intervention, but may also be due to increased attention to end-of-life care and avoidance of inappropriate resuscitation. Up to 30% of all rapid response calls are for patients with end-of-life issues. Perhaps if we develop ways of identifying these patients earlier, a more appropriate management plan could be developed in cooperation with patients and their carers.


  • University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.


Correspondence: jackchen@unsw.edu.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. Hillman K, Chen J, Cretikos M, et al. Introduction of the medical emergency team (MET) system: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2005; 365: 2091-2097.
  • 2. Chen J, Ou L, Hillman KM, et al. Cardiopulmonary arrest and mortality trends, and their association with rapid response system expansion. Med J Aust 2014; 201: 167-170. <MJA full text>
  • 3. Chen J, Bellomo R, Flabouris A, et al. The relationship between early emergency team calls and serious adverse events. Crit Care Med 2009; 37: 148-153.

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