Implementation of triage in a pediatric emergency department

Methods Design: Prospective observational study Setting: Pediatric Emergency Department (ED) of a Community Hospital with 10500 ED visits annually. The hospital conducts DNB Pediatrics, MCEM and BSc Accident & Emergency Technology courses. Participants: 3693 children between 0 and 18 years of age who attended ED in a six month period from September 2011 to February 2012 Tools: Nurses on triage duty applied SATS to all children attending ED during the study period; data was compiled and analysed. SATS is a validated four-category color-coded triage system. Rapid evaluation of clinical discriminators and an age-appropriate composite physiological score called Triage Early Warning Score (TEWS) constitute triage. Points are given for normal versus abnormal mobility, respiratory rate, heart rate, temperature and presence or absence of trauma. TEWS has three versions below 3 years, 3-12 years and above 12 years.