History

The ALERT course was developed in response to data showing some in-hospital cardiac arrests, deaths and admissions to critical care units are avoidable. Often patients show signs of clinical deterioration for many hours, yet these go undetected or poorly treated by ward staff.

Suboptimal care is frequently related to poor management of simple aspects of acute care; those involving the patients airway, breathing and circulation, oxygen therapy, fluid balance and monitoring. Other factors include failures of organisation, lack of knowledge, failure to appreciate the clinical urgency of a situation, lack of supervision, failure to seek advice and poor communication. Although the cause of substandard care is inevitably multi-factorial, basic education in acute care and the preparation of staff for clinical practice may be important determinants. Most basic and advanced resuscitation courses deal predominantly with a patient’s management in the period after a catastrophic event such as cardiac arrest or major trauma. Few teach a pre-emptive approach to critical illness, despite the recognition that prevention is better than cure.

ALERT is licensed to be delivered in over 150 centres in the United Kingdom and is now being adopted Internationally.