Comparison between Australasian triage scale and emergency severity index

Abstract

Background The aim of triage system is to ensure that the treatment of patients in the Emergency departments will be according to their clinical urgency. Also, it decreases waiting time and helps in proper direction of the patients to the most suitable area for better assessment and treatment. Aim of the Work The purpose of this study is to compare the efficiency of Australasian Triage Scale versus the Emergency Severity Index triage systems. Methods Full medical history of 167 Patients arrived at the ED from January till March 2016 were recorded, chief complain, examination, resources number also were recorded and triaged by both systems. Results Our results revealed that the most frequent age group was between 20 to 40 years old, while the least frequent age group was ≥80 years old. The frequency of male patients was higher than the female patients. ATS and ESI were agreed in urgency level 1. Urgency level 2 and 5 was higher in ESI system while, Urgency level 3 and 4 was higher in ATS. The majority of the patients were discharged, while only 2.4 percent were dead. There were insignificant differences between ATS system and final outcome regarding degree of urgency. While, there was significant over-triage in urgency level 2, while there was significant under-triage in urgency levels 3–5 in comparison to final outcome. Conclusion We found that both systems are applicable, but ESI showed some limitation. So we recommended using ATS since it was easier to use and did not show any limitation.