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Resuscitation
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Short communication
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: The ‘chain of survival’ has been a useful tool for improving the understanding of, and the quality of the
Received 21 February 2010 response to, cardiac arrest for many years. In the 2005 European Resuscitation Council Guidelines the
Received in revised form 11 April 2010 importance of recognising critical illness and preventing cardiac arrest was highlighted by their inclusion
Accepted 15 April 2010
as the first link in a new four-ring ‘chain of survival’. However, recognising critical illness and preventing
cardiac arrest are complex tasks, each requiring the presence of several essential steps to ensure clinical
Keywords:
success. This article proposes the adoption of an additional chain for in-hospital settings – a ‘chain of
Education
prevention’ – to assist hospitals in structuring their care processes to prevent and detect patient deterio-
Monitoring
Vital signs
ration and cardiac arrest. The five rings of the chain represent ‘staff education’, ‘monitoring’, ‘recognition’,
Cardiac arrest the ‘call for help’ and the ‘response’. It is believed that a ‘chain of prevention’ has the potential to be under-
Rapid response system stood well by hospital clinical staff of all grades, disciplines and specialties, patients, and their families
Medical emergency team and friends. The chain provides a structure for research to identify the importance of each of the various
Early warning score components of rapid response systems.
Patient safety © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Prevention
European Resuscitation Council
Guidelines
The ‘chain of survival’ has proven to be useful in improving the The proposed ‘chain of prevention’ (Fig. 1) consists of five rings
understanding of, and the quality of the response to, cardiac arrest, linked in series. As no chain is stronger than its weakest link, weak-
both outside and in hospital.1 In the 2005 European Resuscitation ness of one or more of the components (rings) of the chain will
Council Guidelines the importance of recognising critical illness and inevitably result in failure of the whole system. This would be man-
preventing cardiac arrest was highlighted by their inclusion as the ifest by patient deterioration and cardiac arrest. If the components
first link in a new four-ring ‘chain of survival’.2 In the in-hospital of the chain are present and strong, the chain will work perfectly,
setting, patient deterioration is often insidious and potentially pre- and this should be measurable as a reduction in the number of pre-
ventable, with failure of recognition being a frequent problem.3,4 ventable cardiac arrests. The chain and the rationale behind it are
However, recognising critical illness and preventing cardiac arrest described below.
are complex tasks, each requiring the presence of several essential
steps to ensure clinical success. Failures have been reported in each
of these steps, many resulting in adverse outcomes for patients.3,4 2.1. First ring of the chain: Education
This article proposes the use of an additional chain for in-hospital
settings – a ‘chain of prevention’ – to assist hospitals in structuring In general, such education needs to include: how to observe
their care processes to prevent and detect patient deterioration and patients, including vital signs measurement and recording;
cardiac arrest. interpretation of observed signs; recognition of the signs of
deterioration; the use of an early warning score (EWS) or med-
ical emergency team (MET) calling criteria; appreciating clinical
urgency; when and how to utilise simple interventions (airway
opening, oxygen therapy, intravenous fluid administration, etc.);
knowing how to seek help from other staff; successful teamwork
夽 A Spanish translated version of the summary of this article appears as Appendix
and organization; knowing how to use a systematic approach to
in the final online version at doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2010.04.017.
information delivery, and end-of-life care.
∗ Tel.: +44 23 92286306; fax: +44 23 92286326. Evidence supporting the role of education in preventing deterio-
E-mail address: gary.smith@porthosp.nhs.uk. ration and cardiac arrest already exists. For example, virtually all of
0300-9572/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2010.04.017
1210 G.B. Smith / Resuscitation 81 (2010) 1209–1211
Criteria that would identify whether this ring of the chain was ing Clinic Ltd., which markets an electronic vital signs capturing
in place might include whether a specific response team for med- and charting system (VitalPAC). VitalPAC is a collaborative devel-
ical crises exists in the hospital, whether a team response occurs opment of The Learning Clinic Ltd. and Portsmouth Hospitals NHS
following a call for help and the time taken from “call for help” to Trust.
team response.
References
3. A better alternative?
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There has been a prior attempt to develop a structure for the professionals from the Advanced Cardiac Life Support Subcommittee and the
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4. Summary 14. McBride J, Knight D, Piper J, Smith G. Long-term effect of introducing an early
warning score on respiratory rate charting on general wards. Resuscitation
This short paper proposes the introduction of a five-ringed 2005;65:41–4.
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‘chain of prevention’ to assist hospitals in structuring their care pro-
medical emergency team system on the documentations of vital signs. Resusci-
cesses to best prevent and detect patient deterioration and cardiac tation 2009;80:35–43.
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Conflicts of interest statememt 20. Featherstone P, Chalmers T, Smith GB. RSVP: a system for communication of
deterioration in hospital patients. Br J Nurs 2008;17:860–4.
21. Ray EM, Smith R, Massie S, et al. Family alert: implementing direct family
Professor Smith is a member of the Executive Committee of activation of a pediatric rapid response team. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf
the Resuscitation Council (UK) and contributed to the 2005 Euro- 2009;35:575–80.
pean Resuscitation Council Guidelines for Resuscitation. He is 22. Esmonde L, McDonnell A, Ball C, et al. Investigating the effectiveness of
critical care outreach services: a systematic review. Intensive Care Med
the Director of the Acute Life-threatening Events: Recognition 2006;32:1713–21.
and Treatment (ALERT) course, which is run by his employers, 23. DeVita MA, Bellomo R, Hillman K, et al. Findings of the first consensus conference
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. His wife hold shares in The Learn- on medical emergency teams. Crit Care Med 2006;34:2463–78.