Rapid Response Teams - How and Who? (RRT-Comp)

Rapid Response Teams - How and Who? A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Composition of the RRT in a General Hospital

This will be an investigator initiated One-sided blinded Randomized Clinical Trial.

The study will examine the composition of the Rapid Response Team (RRT). the investigators will examine to see if a Critical Care Outreach Team (CCOT) consisting of an ICU-Nurse and a general ward physician and nurse are non-inferior to a Medical Emergency Team (MET) consisting of an ICU-Doctor and ICU Nurse as well as a general ward physician and nurse. The randomization will be done using an Analogue randomization sequence using sealed opaque envelopes with central randomization.The experimental intervention will be the CCOT. The statistical analyses will be done on the primary outcomes in the intention to treat population and on the secondary outcomes on an per-protocol basis exempting those with protocol violations.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Intensive Care Units; Early Warning Score; Hospital Rapid Response Team
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Rapid Response Team Composition_ ICU Nurse

Detailed Description

Trial design This trial is an investigator initiated, multi-centre, locally Randomized, one-side blinded trial of Nurse attended vs. Doctor attended RRT.

Randomization The patient will be screened for enrollment prior to the RRT leaving the ICU. A 1:1 randomization will occur at the time of call. The randomization will be with allocation concealment using a centrally randomized sequence at all participating sites. Due to time constraints the investigators will be using an analogue randomization sequence with sealed opaque envelopes. The Randomization sequence will be generated by a person independent of the project using Statistical software (SPSS or other like software) with a binary outcome of 0 or 1, where 0 will equal the control group and 1 will equal the intervention group. An independent group will then package sealed opaque envelopes in coherence with the sequence generated (controls will have blue cards, while interventions will be marked red). The sealed envelopes will be delivered to the primary investigator who will carry the responsibility of distributing these to the participating sites. When a patient is included the nurse will draw an envelope, open it, and sign the card which has been taken out. The local investigator or his/her delegate must on a daily basis collect and register the signed cards.

Blinding The allocation group is to be blinded for the investigators. As it is near impossible to blind the intervention for the clinicians the randomized allocation will not be blinded for the clinicians.

Members of the management committee (MC) will therefore not be involved in the daily clinical decision makings of the included patients. The outcome assessment will be blinded (i.e. registry-based assessment of interventions, evaluations, mortality, outcome and activation reasons). The statistical analyses will be with masked intervention groups i.e. coded as X/Y. And there will be done two conclusions, one defining x as the experimental group, and one assuming the opposite. The Steering Committee will be presented with two abstracts that must be accepted prior to breaking the bond.

If at anytime the investigators find it needed to investigate the results an Data Monitoring and Security Committee (DMSC) the members of the DMSC will remain blinded unless they 1) request unblinding or 2) find that an interim analysis provides strong indication of one intervention being beneficial or harmful.

Participant timeline The investigators will strive to enroll all patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Patients will receive either the experimental intervention of an ICU-Nurse attending the RRT, or the control of a Nurse and Doctor from the ICU attending the RRT. They will be followed up 30 days after RRT-event as well as 90- days post randomization. If another RRT-event occurs, within the same admission and within 30 days, another randomization will be performed, however the patient will only be included in the mortality comparison from the first randomization. If another RRT-event occurs within a new admission and within 30-days, the patient will receive another randomization however the patient will only be included in the mortality comparison from the first randomization. If another RRT-event occurs within a new admission after 30 days post randomization, the patient will receive a new randomization and will also be included in the mortality analysis twice.

Trial interventions Experimental intervention To ensure no dropout of data only MET-events where a MET-record is entered in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) will be included.

The experimental intervention will be a MET-event attended only by an Intensive Care Unit Nurse, the team being led by the ward physician who is also responsible for treatment, even if this doctor is a junior doctor. All departments will be required to have a ward-physician attending a T-event in the trial period.

The ICU-nurse will be required to fill out an entry regarding the MET-event in the patients EMR, where details regarding the call may be registered Control intervention The control intervention will be standardized MET with both ICU doctor and ICU Nurse attending the patient. The ICU doctor will be team leader and the ward physician will be responsible for treatment as always.

The ICU doctor will be required to fill out an entry regarding the MET-event in the patients EMR, where details regarding the call may be registered Data collection Method Data will be obtained from the participants hospital files and national/regional/hospital registers (source data as defined per site, region and country) and by participant survey / interview and entered in the web-based REDCap database by trial investigators or their delegates. For participants transferred from a trial site to a non-trial site, data related to the outcomes will be collected according to national practice i.e. investigator contact to the relevant site or health-care registers.

Baseline variables are:

• Age
• Sex
• Time and Date of admission to hospital
• If applicable Time and Date of admission to ICU
• Time and Date of discharge
• Ward of RRT event
• Specialty responsible for the patient
• Admission cause

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1500
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Denmark
  • Danmark
    • Hillerød, Danmark, Denmark, 3400
      • Recruiting
      • Nordsjællands Hospital
      • Contact: Morten B Føns-Sønderskov, MD; Phone Number: 51896094; Email: morten.bo.foens-soenderskov@regionh.dk
      • Contact: Anne Marie Kodal, Master of nursing; Phone Number: 48297511; Email: anne.marie.kodal@regionh.dk
      • Principal Investigator: Morten Føns-Sønderskov, MD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Admitted to any general ward of the hospital AND
• Aged ≥ 18 years AND
• In need of RRT attention

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age < 18
• Admitted to the delivery ward

• Admitted to any ward in the anesthetic department

  • ICU
  • High Dependency Unit
  • Post Operation Department
  • Operating Theatre
  • Same Day Admissions - Surgery Ward

• Not admitted at the time of call

  • Evaluation track in Emergency department (prior to being seen by a doctor)
  • Out-Patient departments
  • X-ray department
• Any patient who cannot be randomized at the time of call

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Critical Care Outreach Team Model; When a patient deteriorates and is in need of a Rapid Response Team, this arm will deploy a Critical Care Outreach Team Model consisting of an ICU-trained Nurse with the on-duty physician of the general ward and a nurse from the general ward.	Other: Rapid Response Team Composition_ ICU Nurse; In case of deterioration a Rapid Response Team may be activated. We will be examining the composition of the teams alternating between a MET or a CCOT.; Other Names: Rapid Response Team Composition - ICU Doctor + Nurse
No Intervention: Medical Emergency team Model; When a patient deteriorates and is in need of a Rapid Response Team, this arm will deploy a Medical Emergency Team Model, consisting of an ICU-trained Doctor as well as an ICU-trained Nurse with the on-duty physician of the general ward and a nurse from the general ward.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
30-Day Mortality	Binary outcome measured via the patient Electronic Medical Records	up to 30 days
In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (IHCA)	Binary outcome measured via the patient Electronic Medical Records: defined as any IHCA post randomization and until discharge or 30 days post randomization	up to 30 days
Unplanned Admission to the Intensive Care Unit	Binary outcome measured via the patient Electronic Medical Records. Defined as Admission to the ICU more than 24h Post randomization until discharge or 30 day post randomization	up to 30 days
Unexpected Death	Binary outcome measured via the Patient Electronic Medical Records and National Register of deaths in the population. Defined as Any deaths post randomization until discharge or 30 days post randomization without treatment limitation being implemented during or 24 hours after the RRT, and without a "do not attempt resuscitation" order	up to 30 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Activation of escape protocol	Besides a few defined criteria the nurse may at any time activate the escape protocol and summon the ICU doctor to the patient immediately. If this is done at any time, it will be logged in the Electronic Medical Records and subsequently registered in the eCRF	Through intervention completion, an average of 45 minutes
90-day mortality	Binary outcome measured via the Patient electronic medical records.	90 days
Time Spent Bedside	Continuous outcome measured via the Patient Electronic medical records - the MET-note. Defined in Minutes	Through intervention completion, an average of 45 minutes
Initiation of End of Life Care (EOL)	Binary outcome measured via the Patient Electronic Medical Records, defined as any treatment limitations involving cessation of all treatment, prescription of a safety/comfort package, No increase in treatment level - no ICU involvement and no MET involvement.	Maximum 30 days post randomization
Score To Door Time	Continuous outcome calculated via the Patient Electronic medical records the MET-note, defined as the time from activation of the RRT until arrival at the ICU.	Through intervention completion, an average of 4 hours
Survival until discharge	Binary outcome measured via the patient Electronic Medical Records	From date of admission until the date discharged up to 1 year.
Length of Stay	Continuous outcome measured via the Patient Electronic Medical records defined in Days, measured from admission date till discharge or death date.	From date of admission until discharged up to 1 year

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Activation reason	Exploratory outcome regarding the reason for activating the MET	Through intervention completion, an average of 45 minutes
Interventions done by the RRT	Exploratory outcome regarding the interventions done by the RRT	Through intervention completion, an average of 45 minutes
Outcomes from the RRT -event	Exploratory outcome regarding the outcomes when the RRT-event is ending.	Through intervention completion, an average of 45 minutes
Evaluations by the RRT	Exploratory outcome regarding the evaluations done by the RRT	Through intervention completion, an average of 45 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Nordsjaellands Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 11, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 10, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): August 11, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 17, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 11, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services; Health Personnel; Nurses
• Other Study ID Numbers: Pending (Clinical Research Information Service)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Pending
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: 9 months after finalized randomisation for 5 years
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ANALYTIC_CODE; CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No