DEWS is an overall score for risk assessment of the physiological status of a person. It is a cumulative score of risk levels of physiological parameters like HR, RR, Spo2, Systolic BP and movement, which acts as an early predictor for the possible physiological decline.
DEWS Score helps in
Assessment of severity of acute illness
Detection of clinical deterioration
IInitiation of a timely and competent clinical response
Each physiological parameter is scored on a scale of 0–3. Individual scores are added for an overall score or DEWS, which can range from 0-15. The higher the score the greater the clinical risk. A score of 4 or more is a key trigger threshold for urgent clinical review and action.
Recommended Actions for clinical risk based on DEWS are:
Aggregate score of 0-1 indicates low risk and the response to this alert can be ward-based.
The aggregate score of 2-3 or an individual score of 3 for any parameter indicates moderate risk and requires an urgent-ward based response.
Aggregate score of 4+ indicates high risk and requires an urgent emergency response.