• Sachin Gupta, Cameron Green, Ashwin Subramaniam, Lim Dee Zhen, Elizabeth Low, and Ravindranath Tiruvoipati.
• Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Peninsula Health, Victoria, Australia; Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
• J Crit Care. 2017 Oct 1; 41: 86-90.

PurposeTo investigate the impact of delay in rapid response call (RRC) activation on Hospital mortality.Materials And MethodsThis study was conducted in a university affiliated hospital providing medical, surgical, mental health, maternity, and pediatric services. RRCs were considered delayed if RRC activation was delayed by ≥15min. The primary outcome measure was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included hospital length of stay (LOS), requirement of ICU admission, as well as requirement of mechanical ventilation and ICU LOS for patients requiring ICU admission.ResultsA total of 826 RRCs occurred in 629 patient admissions. A quarter of all RRCs were delayed by ≥15min, with a median delay of 1h and 20min. Patients with a delayed RRC had significantly higher in-hospital mortality (34.7% vs. 21.2%; p=0.001,) and significantly longer hospitalizations (11.6 vs. 8.4days; p=0.036). After adjusting for confounders, RRC activation was independently associated with increased in-hospital mortality (OR=1.79; 95% CI=1.17-2.72: p=0.007).ConclusionsA delay of ≥15min was associated with significantly increased in-hospital mortality and longer hospitalization. The factors contributing to the observed increase in mortality with delayed RRCs require further exploration.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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