Strategy for developing a hospital affiliated ambulatory care medical emergency response team: is it worth a nickel to try to save a life?

Health care facilities should reassess their resuscitation team response strategies in light of the shift in care from inpatient to outpatient facilities. This article discusses a strategy for assessing a health care facility's resuscitation needs globally, including a detailed analysis of the physical layout, population requiring coverage, personnel, and equipment. Resuscitation system design is reviewed, with particular emphasis on training, equipment, process variables, administration, cost, and quality improvement. Widespread training of nurse-first responders in the use of automated external defibrillators along with an in-hospital or community emergency medical services advanced life-support response is a cost-effective way of providing tiered coverage to remote outpatient facilities or satellite units.