An eight year audit before and after the introduction of modified early warning score (MEWS) charts, of patients admitted to a tertiary referral intensive care unit after CPR.

Abstract

To determine whether cardiac arrest calls, the proportion of adult patients admitted to intensive care after CPR and their associated mortalities were reduced, in a four year period after the introduction of a 24/7 Critical Care Outreach Service and MEWS (Modified Early Warning System) Charts. A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data during two four-year periods, (2002-05 and 2006-09) in a UK University Teaching Hospital Comparisons were via χ(2) test. A p value of ≤0.05 was regarded as being significant. In the second audit period, compared to the first one, the number of cardiac arrest calls relative to adult hospital admissions decreased significantly (0.2% vs. 0.4%; p<0.0001), the proportion of patients admitted to intensive care having undergone in-hospital CPR fell significantly (2% vs. 3%; p=0.004) as did the in-hospital mortality of these patients (42% vs. 52%; p=0.05). The four years following the introduction of a 24/7 Critical Care Outreach Service and MEWS Charts were associated with significant reductions in the incidence of cardiac arrest calls, the proportion of patients admitted to intensive care having undergone in-hospital CPR and their in-hospital mortality.