OBJECTIVE General practices increasingly use telephone triage to manage patient flows. During triage, the urgency of the call and required type of care are determined. This study examined the organization and adequacy of telephone triage in general practices in the Netherlands. DESIGN Cross-sectional observational study using a web-based survey among practice assistants including questions on...

Over the past decade, entry-to-practice emergency preparedness competencies have been identified as an essential component of nursing education. In this paper the author reports upon a small Canadian study which explores the perspective of undergraduate learners and faculty members who participated in and/or facilitated an Emergency Preparedness Simulation (EPS) module during a primary health c...

BACKGROUND We performed an internal review of triage decisions and outcomes for all patients admitted for small bowel obstruction (SBO). Concern for potential delays in operation led to formalization of an institution-wide SBO management guideline. We hypothesized that use of the guideline would improve initial triage and patient outcomes. METHODS Members of the departments of surgery, medici...

STUDY OBJECTIVE Triage standing orders are used in emergency departments (EDs) to initiate evaluation when there is no bed available. This study evaluates the effect of diagnostic triage standing orders on ED treatment time of adult patients who presented with a chief complaint for which triage standing orders had been developed. METHODS We conducted a retrospective nested cohort study of pat...

BACKGROUND In Canada, new models of orthopaedic care involving advanced practice physiotherapists (APP) are being implemented. In these new models, aimed at improving the efficiency of care for patients with musculoskeletal disorders, APPs diagnose, triage and conservatively treat patients. Formal validation of the efficiency and appropriateness of these emerging models is scarce. The purpose o...

BACKGROUND Pediatric after-hours telephone triage by call center nurses is an important part of pediatric health care provision. OBJECTIVES To use a computerized database including the after-hours telephone calls for 90% of the pediatricians in Colorado to examine: (1) the epidemiology of after-hours calls during a 1-year period including the volume, seasonality, and timing of after-hours cal...

Traditional triage could not meet the needs of battlefield casualties' care in modern warfare. This paper designs of triage and medical evacuation system for casualties at sea that can quickly address mass-casualty triage, and store and transmit medical information during battlefield treatment and medical evacuation. This system consists of a high-capacity medical information card, a simulated ...

Background Triage of patients in the Emergency Department includes scoring of vital parameters. The objective of this study was to compare two such triage systems for assessing vital parameters a single-parameter system, T-vital, as used in Danish Emergency Process Triage, and a multiple-parameter system, T-EWS, which we based on Early Warning Score (EWS) and correlate the triage scores to in-h...

The history of triage started from the French battle field for prioritizing patients. Emergency triage was started in early 1950's in USA in order to treat the sickest first. It has now become an integral component of all emergency departments (ED). The basic aim of triage is not only to sort out patients according to the criticality of their illness, but it also serves to streamline the patien...

OBJECTIVES Developments in triage have led to patients being directed to triage rather than reception upon arrival in A&E. This study aimed to discover if attending triage or reception first, was preferable in terms of timeliness, clarity and safety. METHODS The study compared two consecutive four week periods during which patients were directed to attend triage first and then reception first...