2026 Code Blue and Rapid Response Seminar

Learner hub for a University of Utah Internal Medicine Code Blue and Rapid Response leadership seminar.

Learner hub for University of Utah Internal Medicine residents preparing to lead Code Blue and Rapid Response teams while working with bedside nurses, nurse-led response teams, and critical care outreach teams. Use this site before, during, and after the in-person session to orient to the micro-skills, scenarios, and resources.

Start Here

Before the Session

• No pre-work required; we will spend the first 10 minutes going through the pre-test and orientation, then go through the modules together.
• Pre-session Survey.
• Bring questions from real code/RRT experiences, especially moments when resident and nursing roles felt unclear.
• Note site-specific workflow uncertainties you want clarified.

During the Session

• Practice making leadership clear.
• Make pulse-check decisions out loud.
• Use bedside and outreach expertise to choose the next step.
• Call the resource needed for the next step and assign follow-up.
• Run hands-on Zoll and scenario practice.

After the Session

• Bookmark the resources page.
• Revisit the case rhythm strips.
• Send near-misses, big wins, or unclear resident/nursing workflows to the CMRs or course leads so this course stays current.

Post-session survey.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the session, learners should be able to:

• Make the leadership state clear on arrival: lead, support, consult, or transition leadership explicitly.
• Prepare pulse checks, make shock/no-shock decisions public, and protect compression pauses.
• Use bedside nurse and outreach trajectory to identify key decisions, needed resources, and the next-step plan.
• Decide what next care step the patient needs and activate the appropriate site-specific resource or destination.
• Close each rapid/code with explicit disposition, follow-up owner, callback plan, family plan when needed, and debrief.

Tip

Didactics alone have limits. Regular review, simulation, interprofessional practice, and feedback after real events are what turn these skills into reflexes.

Course Map

Micro-Skill Modules

Leadership, pulse-check decisions, nurse-response/escalation, and code-ending considerations.

Open modules

Practice Scenarios

Five short code/RRT cases for Zoll practice, rhythm decisions, escalation, and resident/nurse-team communication.

Open scenarios

Quick Resources

ACLS card, site differences, team-resource script, rapid response guide, and QR/manual links.

Open resources

Facilitators

Instructor guide, QR slide, and annual update checklist.

Open facilitator notes

Why This Course Exists

Code Blue and Rapid Response leadership is not just algorithm recall. The resident leader has to make the room work: make the leadership state explicit, make roles visible, keep communication psychologically safe, integrate bedside expertise, and escalate resources before the response stalls.

Stakeholders from Code Blue and Rapid Response teams, including senior residents, nurses, respiratory therapists, and quality leads, identified four recurring hazards during resident-led responses:

1. Unclear team leadership, which can cause role confusion, low psychological safety, and decreased collaboration. (Steinbach et al. 2024)
2. Failure to cardiovert or defibrillate shockable rhythms.
3. Delayed critical decisions, including calling for help, initial stabilization, and transport to ICU.
4. Poorly defined collaboration between residents and bedside nurses, nurse-led rapid response teams, or critical care outreach teams.

This seminar targets those hazards through brief micro-skills, discussion, hands-on scenarios, and interprofessional scripts that can be used during real events.

References

Steinbach, Trevor C., Ann L. Jennerich, and Başak Çoruh. 2024. “Effective Behaviors of Leaders During Clinical Emergencies: A Qualitative Study of Followers’ Perspectives.” CHEST 166 (5): 1141–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2024.05.011.