Rapid Response Teams
The use of rapid-response teams is becoming more common in many health care settings. They allow for faster patient care and more efficient care than standard emergency units that do not have this capability. Some of the benefits to having this type of unit in place are faster hospital admissions and discharge, faster hospital or medical facility beds available, faster transfer of patients and the ability to respond to sudden demands on any one of these systems. Because of their increased speed, the response time is reduced considerably which results in less lost time for patients and less inconvenience to patients and their families.
There are four basic types of rapid-response units. One of these is an ambulatory rapid-response team that is made up of a paramedic, an EMT, a nurse and a physician. Another is a surgical rapid-response team that consists of a surgical technologist, an RN, a nurse, a paramedic and a physician. The third type of rapid-response unit is a critical care rapid-response team that consists of a surgeon, a trauma nurse and a doctor. The last type of unit is a critical care/intensive care rapid-response team, which is made up of a nurse, an EMT, a paramedic and a physician.
All of the rapid-response teams have been designed to ensure that they can provide the highest level of care and assistance possible for their clients. These teams are able to perform advanced life support procedures such as blood transfusions, dialysis, oxygenation and monitoring equipment like pulse oximeters and ECG monitors to determine the health of the patient.
The main benefit of having these types of teams is that it allows doctors and nurses to concentrate on the most critical tasks while the rapid-response teams to focus on the non-urgent and non-life threatening problems. for the patient and reduce the risk of loss of life for both the patient and the attending staff.
There are several benefits to having a rapid-response team in your hospital, but the most obvious of these is the fact that it reduces the chance for loss of life in the event of a patient requiring quick medical intervention. For example, if a patient needs a cardiac catheterization then a cardiac defibrillator can be used to provide shock therapy to the heart to stop the heartbeat before it stops completely. These can be very expensive so most hospitals will not carry them. These are not necessary for the patient as the patient may die without them.
However, the costs do not necessarily mean that you need a hospital to have a rapid-response team. The rapid-response team can be very useful in a smaller hospital where there is no hospital facility. These teams can be set up in private or government facilities and there are many medical facilities that make use of them for home or for-profit purposes.
In addition to saving lives, a hospital with one of these types of teams can also save money. Hospitals that offer a high volume of patients tend to charge more money to keep the staff on-site for a longer time frame. The same goes for smaller hospitals that often have shorter on-site staff. By outsourcing these services to a rapid-response team, a hospital will be able to reduce costs and save lives while still offering high quality care for the patients they serve.