The rapid adoption of hospital Medical Emergency Teams (METs), also called Rapid Response Teams, has been remarkable. This has been hastened by the inclusion of METs as one of the six strategies employed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 100 000 Lives Campaign. More than 3000 US hospitals have indicated their participation in this ambitious initiative.

METs consist of two or three health professionals—often a nurse, respiratory therapist, and physician—working as a team with a specific plan for responding to a patient crisis. Using defined criteria, a team is called to the bedside of a hospitalized patient whose clinical condition has become unstable. This simple strategy is designed to cut through hospital …