Critical Bytes - Beyond the trigger: caring for complex deteriorating patients

Course overview 

Track-and-trigger scores are very good at flagging risk of deterioration, but they don't explain the cause or necessarily the required treatment that needs prioritising. This case-based webinar picks up where the mechanics of the MET call leave off and builds the clinical reasoning that sits beyond the call particularly when the deteriorating patient doesn't fit the algorithm. 

What you will learn 

Across four clinical cases and interactive polls, we work through the hardest calls:  

• the patient whose numbers are alarming but who looks completely well;  
• the patient with new confusion, where delirium is the deterioration and "just their dementia" is the trap; 
• the patient who is genuinely sick but has a terminal condition or a ceiling of care, where escalation may not be the answer; and 
• the multimorbid patient where the right treatment for one problem is the wrong treatment for another.  

Running through all of it are the people who often notice first - the patient, their family and carers, and their role in providing background knowledge of their baseline goals and expectations that you can't always get from the chart. 

Why you should attend 

If you have ever escalated, called a MET or worked in a rapid response team, this webinar develops your skills moving from how the system works to what happens after the trigger fires. You'll leave with a practical skillset to scaffold that you can apply at any bedside. The session is aligned to NSQHS Standards 1, 2, 5, 6 and 8 with interactive poll questions and live Q and A with a clinical and resuscitation expert. 

Interpret track-and-trigger scores against a patient's baseline, pathophysiology and clinical risks; recognise red flags and how to be effective with escalating concerns; apply a goals-of-care lens while still treating reversible causes for complex patients at end-of-life; reason through competing pathophysiology in the multimorbid patient; and partner with families as a source of baseline and goals-of-care information.