The clinical science behind Respiratory Rate as an Early Indicator of patient deterioration. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) state that the respiratory rate (RR) is the most sensitive marker to indicate a deterioration in a patient’s clinical status (NICE 2007). Research studies repeatedly and consistently support such statements into early predictors of adverse clinical events such as cardiac arrest and deterioration requiring ITU admission (Fieselmann 1997, Hodgetts 2002, Goldhill 2005, Subbe 2003).