Page "Cardiac arrest" Paragraph 36

Extensive research has shown that patients in general wards often deteriorate for several hours or even days before a cardiac arrest occurs.

This has been attributed to a lack of knowledge and skill amongst ward based staff, in particular a failure to carry out measurement of the respiratory rate, which is often the major predictor of a deterioration and can often change up to 48 hours prior to a cardiac arrest.

In response to this, many hospitals now have increased training for ward based staff.

A number of " early warning " systems also exist which aim to quantify the risk which patients are at of deterioration based on their vital signs and thus provide a guide to staff.

In addition, specialist staff are being utilised more effectively in order to augment the work already being done at ward level.

These include: