PLATTSBURGH -- CVPH Medical Center patients and their family members will soon become active players in the hospital's process for handling potentially severe medical conditions.

The Medical Center's Rapid Response Team was formed three years ago to address national concerns that hospitals were losing patients who could have otherwise been saved with prompt advanced care.

The team -- consisting of a nurse from the Intensive Care Unit, a respiratory therapist and a patient-care coordinator -- responds to patient floors when a health-care provider notices an unusual change in a patient's condition.

CONSULTATIONS

"When nurses want a consult, when they feel something is going on and they want another opinion, they'll call for the Rapid Response Team," said Erica Wood, a clinical practice coordinator for the hospital.

"The consult nurse can provide a separate set of eyes."

Over the past three years, the team has responded to more than 600 calls.

"There are many more patients who are not coming to Intensive Care because their condition is being managed on the floor," said Intensive Care Nurse Jennifer Kanaly.

"I do feel some of these patients would have ended up in code (the response for a person suffering a fatal cardiac arrest). The program has been a wonderful thing."

FAST RESPONSE

Team members arrive at the patient's room within five to seven minutes and work with the nurse to address the concerns that initiated the response.

Cases can last a few minutes or beyond an hour, depending on what kind of treatment may be required.

The ICU nurse plays an important role by bringing a specific expertise into the patient's room, and the respiratory therapist is a valuable addition because many situations involve a patient's failing respiratory system.

HELP FROM FAMILY

With the program's success, the hospital has decided to take an additional step to include patients and their family members as part of the Rapid Response Team.