ILS scribe
ILS scribing for the first 10 minutes on the ward
An Immediate Life Support scribing tool for the ward team running the first minutes of an arrest or peri-arrest. Keeps the timeline clear so handover to the arriving crash team takes seconds, not a re-explanation.
What you get
- Built for the ward, not the resus bayBig buttons, simple labels, one-handed use. Designed to be picked up by whoever has a free hand, not by a dedicated scribe.
- Crash team call as a discrete eventTap once when 2222 is called. The export distinguishes ward-phase events from crash-team-phase events for audit and debrief.
- Handover summary on demandAt any moment, pull up the 30-second summary view: time of arrest, rhythm, shocks given, drugs given, current cycle, what's due next.
- Peri-arrest mode for the deteriorating patientUse the same tool before the arrest happens to log NEWS2 escalation, MET calls, and the bridging interventions while you wait for help.
What ILS-level scribing actually has to do
Immediate Life Support is taught around the idea that the ward team are the first responders to an arrest and have to keep the patient alive for 5–10 minutes until the crash team arrives. Scribing in this window is fundamentally different from scribing a full ALS arrest. There is no dedicated scribe — there is whoever is not currently doing compressions, running the bag-valve-mask, or attaching the defibrillator.
That changes what the tool has to look like. Buttons must be big enough to hit while looking at the patient, not the screen. The interface must be readable in one glance. The state must survive being put down on the trolley and picked up by a different person 30 seconds later.
Making handover to the crash team painless
The single highest-value moment of ward-level scribing is the handover. The crash team walks in cold; they need to know, in seconds, what they are inheriting. A spoken handover from memory at this point typically misses one or two facts that matter — most often the time of arrest, the initial rhythm, or whether adrenaline has already been given.
A scribed timeline solves that by surfacing the handover summary as a deliberate view. The ward nurse hands the device to the arriving registrar and the answer to every question they were about to ask is on the screen, in the order they would ask it. The handover takes 20 seconds instead of two minutes, and the patient stops being interrupted by repeated questions.
Peri-arrest scribing on the ward
The same tool is useful upstream of the arrest. A deteriorating ward patient often spends 20–60 minutes in a peri-arrest state — escalating NEWS2 scores, calls to the MET or outreach team, bridging fluids, antibiotics, oxygen titration — before the arrest itself happens or is averted.
Logging that period in the same timeline means that, if the patient does arrest, the team inherits an honest account of what was tried and why. If the patient is rescued before arrest, the same log feeds the after-action review of the deterioration — the kind of review that, over time, makes recognition of the next deteriorating patient faster.
Frequently asked
- How is ILS scribing different from ALS scribing?
- The window is shorter and the team is smaller. The ward team is usually running things alone for the first 5–10 minutes before the crash team arrives. The scribing job is to keep those minutes clear so that handover to the arriving team takes seconds, not a re-explanation.
- What does a good ward handover look like?
- Time of arrest, witnessed status, initial rhythm, what has already been given, shocks delivered, current cycle, next thing due. A scribed timeline lets the ward team hand all of that over in under 30 seconds.
- Can a single nurse use it while running the arrest?
- It is designed so that one person can tap-log key events while doing compressions or running the BVM — the buttons are large enough to use without looking — but the role is much easier with a dedicated scribe as soon as one is available.
- Does it support escalation to the crash team?
- Yes. Tap 'crash team called' to time-stamp the call; the export distinguishes the pre-arrival ward phase from the post-arrival team phase, which is useful for the audit and the debrief.
CPR Scribe runs in the browser, installs to your home screen, and works offline. No account needed to start — sign in only if you want to save records.