Failures in planning and communication, and failure to recognize when a patient's condition is deteriorating, can lead to failure to rescue and become a key contributor to in-hospital mortality. If identified in a timely fashion, unnecessary deaths can often be prevented. The Rapid Response Team — known by some as the Medical Emergency Team — is a team of clinicians who bring critical care expertise to the bedside. Simply put, the purpose of the Rapid Response Team is to bring critical care expertise to the patient bedside (or wherever it’s needed).