Don't Give Up Your Triage System — Yet!

In a head-to-head study, novice clinical gestalt outperformed a triage scale, but this limited study lacks face validity.

Given rising emergency department (ED) patient volumes, it has become even more important to determine which patients require treatment priority. A number of triage tools have been developed to standardize these decisions, and although they typically provide high interrater reliability (NEJM JW Emerg Med Oct 1999 and Ann Emerg Med 1999; 34:155), they are still likely to miscategorize patients.

In a prospective observational Danish study, investigators compared standardized assessment by trained nurses using the Danish Emergency Process Triage (DEPT) with gestalt assessment by medical students or phlebotomists with no training in patient evaluation. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality.

A total of 6290 ED patients were included (49.5% men;…

Reviewing Author

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Board Member); American College of Healthcare Executives – Massachusetts (Board Member)

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Board Member); American College of Healthcare Executives – Massachusetts (Board Member)

Don't Give Up Your Triage System — Yet!

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Reviewing Author