Factors that contribute to failure to rescue events in pediatric emergency department patients

Abstract

Background: Failure to rescue is defined as the inability to identify early signs or symptoms of deterioration leading to the development of an event that was not expected or desired. We explored 3 types of failure to rescue events in patients who presented to the pediatric emergency department (ED): Patients admitted to a general care unit and transferred to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) within 4 hours of arrival to the general care unit; patients who required a critical procedure within the first hour of arrival to the PICU; and patients who require initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) 30 minutes after arrival in the ED.