Berlin Criteria for ARDS
Classifies acute respiratory distress syndrome severity to guide ventilatory management and prognostication
- Highest activation tier
- Mandatory
- How it is scored
- Scored in code; a detected disagreeing draft value is flagged for correction
- Scoring type
- classification
- Care settings
- ICU
When it activates
Scribeable activates a calculator from the encounter. The Berlin Criteria for ARDS can activate when the transcript or pasted chart context documents any of these:
- ARDS diagnosis
- Acute respiratory failure classification
- Bilateral infiltrates with hypoxemia
- Ventilator management in ARDS
- ARDS severity assessment
A coded diagnosis can also activate it. ICD-10 prefixes carried by the registry: J80.
Note-type scope: it activates on notes whose subject resolves to critical care, pulmonology, emergency medicine. A note that resolves to another subject does not carry it even when the clinician's specialty matches; a note with no resolvable subject (a generic consultation) falls back to the specialty match.
Inputs the note needs
6 inputs. Each is resolved from the transcript, the pasted chart context and charted labs; an input marked "asks you" is requested as a clarification when it is undocumented.
| Input | Type | Unit / options | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arterial PaO2 (mmHg) | lab | mmHg | |
| FiO2 (fraction, e.g., 0.5) | vital | ||
| PEEP level (cmH2O, must be ≥5) | vital | cmH₂O | |
| Bilateral opacities on imaging | exam | ||
| Onset within 1 week of known insult | history | ||
| Not fully explained by cardiac failure or fluid overload | history |
Scoring
Requires: onset within 1 week, bilateral opacities, not fully explained by cardiac failure, PEEP ≥5. Severity by P/F ratio: Mild 200-300, Moderate 100-200, Severe <100.
P/F = Arterial PaO2 (mmHg) / FiO2 (fraction, e.g., 0.5); ARDS if bilateral opacities Bilateral opacities on imaging, ≤1wk onset Onset within 1 week of known insult, cardiac excluded Not fully explained by cardiac failure or fluid overload, PEEP PEEP level (cmH2O, must be ≥5) ≥5 (Mild P/F 200-300, Moderate 100-200, Severe <100)
Interpretation
Mild (P/F 200-300): 27% mortality. Moderate (P/F 100-200): 32% mortality, consider prone positioning. Severe (P/F <100): 45% mortality, prone positioning recommended, consider ECMO.
Evidence
Sources carried in Scribeable's citation registry for this calculator; guideline version: ARDS Definition Task Force 2012.
- The ARDS Definition Task Force. Acute respiratory distress syndrome: the Berlin DefinitionARDS Berlin Definition 2012 · 2012 · ESICM/ATS/SCCM · Consensus · link last verified 2026-03-28
How Scribeable handles it in the note
When an encounter activates the Berlin Criteria for ARDS at the mandatory tier, Scribeable resolves its inputs from the transcript, the pasted chart context and any charted labs, and asks you for a missing input you can supply before the note is finalised. Bedside-exam and separately ordered study values are not requested one input at a time; a calculator that carries a combined clarification question may still put that single question to you.
The score is computed in code from the resolved inputs, not recalled by the language model. If the draft states a Berlin Criteria for ARDS value that disagrees with the computed one, the disagreement is flagged to the second drafting pass, which is instructed to correct the score and its interpretation before you see the note.
Classified as a risk score: activated strictly, by a documented trigger, never by a permissive reading of the encounter.
See it activate on your own encounter
14 days of full Pro. No sales call.
14-day Pro trial, no credit card required. Everything in Pro, including Rounding, for up to 150 notes. To keep Pro after day 14, subscribe for $79/month plus applicable tax. If you don't, nothing is charged and your account becomes read-only, with every note kept.