Introduction of an obstetric-specific medical emergency team for obstetric crises: implementation and experience.

Objective: We describe the implementation and experience with adding an obstetric-specific medical emergency team (called Condition O for obstetric crisis) to an existing rapid response system at Magee-Womens Hospital.

Study Design: In response to deficits identified during patient safety review of adverse obstetric events in 2004 and 2005, the hospital administration decided to add a crisis team with expertise specifically designed for maternal and/or fetal crises.

Results: During the first 6 months, staff rarely called Condition O (14 per 10,000 obstetric admissions).