Triagesystems for Emergency Medical Services – Pre-Hospital and at Hospital Admission [Internet]

Excerpt

The emergency medical services (EMS) cover initiatives and services established to provide essential medical assistance in situations of acute illness. Methods for systematic prioritizing of patients according to how urgent they need care, including the triage of requests on acute medical treatment, are established in Norway. However, the triage systems applied differ between the different settings of the EMS and also between regions.

Commission: The Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services was asked by the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority Trade Group for Emergency Wards and Pre Hospital Services to review available research on effects of triage for use in the EMS, and with special attention to pre-hospital services.

We searched for systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, controlled studies, and interrupted time series on:

1. Effects of triage systems used in the prehospital setting of the EMS. To assess the effectiveness of triage systems and also to determine if one triage system is more effective than the other regarding health outcomes, patient safety, patient satisfaction, satisfaction with the use of the triage system, the use of resources, goal achievement, and to evaluate the quality of the information exchange between the different settings of the EMS (for example the quality of documentation).

2. Effects of using the same triage system in two or more settings of the EMS.

Main results: There is an evidence gap regarding the effects of prehospital triage and the effects of using the same triage system in two or more settings of the EMS.

Keywords: Triage; Emergency Medical Services.