American Heart Association recognizes Nassar and Code Blue Team

Outside recognition of internal effort is always encouraging, especially from organizations like the American Heart Association (AHA). The AHA – Get with the Guidelines (GWTG) program recently recognized the University of Iowa Health Care Emergency Response Team (ERT) Director Paul Nassar, MD, MPH, and his Code Blue Team with Silver Recognition for excellence in CPR quality.

The Code Blue Team is a multidisciplinary blend of ERT Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), internal medicine residents, ICU nurses, respiratory therapists, and pharmacists. The team collaborates during a code blue event—a patient emergency involving cardiac or respiratory arrest—to provide life-saving resuscitation.

In the last quarter of 2023, the Code Blue Team earned Bronze Recognition. GWTG, which UIHC joined in 2016, evaluates a hospital’s key quality metrics in resuscitation care and awards its status accordingly. Health care teams achieve these statuses by submitting complete and accurate resuscitation quality data for at least 50% of its Cardiopulmonary Arrests (CPA) and maintaining an risk-standardized survival rate (RSSR) in the top 40% of participating hospitals’ scores. The AHA awards Bronze Recognition to teams that meet or exceed these criteria for one calendar quarter. Nassar’s Code Blue Team earned the Silver Recognition for maintaining these benchmarks for a calendar year.

Nassar said the ERT’s 2023 launch, as well as new educational initiatives that provide simulation and real-time feedback, helped the team achieve Silver Recognition.

But above all, Nassar credits the Code Blue Team for continually raising the bar. “Our success is driven by a dedicated, multidisciplinary team,” he said. “They embrace data-driven practice, continuous debriefing, and collaboration to elevate care and outcomes.”