Outreach: A Programme for Timely Treatment of Critically Ill Patients in a University Hospital

The identification of patients with potential early organ failure is the key in preventing admission or readmission to a critical care facility. The primary goal of the Outreach Project is to ensure that all patients with threatening organ failure receive appropriate and timely treatment in a suitable area; avoid admission to the intensive care unit (ICU); and share ICU skills by a partnership in education. The objectives of the study are to determine whether the introduction of an intensive care unit based medical emergency team, responding to hospital-wide preset criteria of physiologic instability, will decrease the number of predefined serious adverse events (SAEs) and to investigate the effects on quality of life and costs in a general surgery population. Study Hypothesis: The Outreach intervention will decrease the number of predefined serious adverse events; increase quality of life; and decrease costs.