Patients’ simple vital signs are a highly reliable predictor of life-threatening clinical events
At a time when hospital staff are becoming increasingly dependent on new technologies, the review by Cretikos et al1 entitled “Respiratory rate: the neglected vital sign” is refreshing. It is a timely reminder that understanding, documenting and acting on changes in patients’ simple vital signs are of fundamental importance to clinical outcomes.
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- 1. Cretikos MA, Bellomo R, Hillman K, et al. Respiratory rate: the neglected vital sign. Med J Aust 2008; 188: 657-659. <eMJA full text>
- 2. Lee A, Bishop G, Hillman KM, Daffurn K. The medical emergency team. Anaesth Intensive Care 1995; 23: 183-186.
- 3. Bristow PJ, Hillman KM, Chey T, et al. Rates of in-hospital arrests, deaths and intensive care admissions: the effect of a medical emergency team. Med J Aust 2000; 173: 236-240. <MJA full text>
- 4. Buist MD, Moore GE, Bernard SA, et al. Effects of a medical emergency team on reduction of incidence of and mortality from unexpected cardiac arrests in hospital: preliminary study. BMJ 2002; 324: 387-390.
- 5. Bellomo R, Goldsmith D, Uchino S, et al. A prospective before-and-after trial of a medical emergency team. Med J Aust 2003; 179: 283-287. <MJA full text>
- 6. Hillman K, Chen J, Cretikos M, et al; MERIT study investigators. Introduction of the medical emergency team (MET) system: a cluster randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2005; 365: 2091-2097.
- 7. Buist M, Harrison J, Abaloz E, Van Dyke S. Six year audit of cardiac arrests and medical emergency team calls in an Australian outer metropolitan teaching hospital. BMJ 2007; 335: 1210-1212.
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Michael Buist is a director and shareholder of Patientrack (MKM Consulting, Canberra), an electronic system for monitoring patients’ vital signs and issuing alerts to appropriate clinicians.