Adverse events experienced while transferring the critically ill patient from the emergency department to the intensive care unit.
This study evaluated nearly 300 adverse events that occurred during intrahospital transport, noting that equipment problems and hypothermia were the most common. Investigators combined 6 months of prospective observation with retrospective chart review to characterize the type and nature of events recorded for patients admitted to the intensive care unit from the emergency department. While the overall rates were lower than reported in past research, the authors advocate for using their findings as benchmarks: an adverse event rate of 22 of 100 transfers and 38 of 100 delays in transfer. A case commentary on Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) WebM&M discusses the issue of intrahospital transport with suggestions for improving the safety of this poorly studied process.