Triage at Mass Gathering Events: Not an Emergency Department, and Not (Necessarily) a Disaster

Abstract

Introduction:Triage at mass gathering events (MGEs) has no standard protocol that is widely accepted and applied uniformly across event types and locations. This investigation describes the current state of published literature as it applies specifically to the triage of patient presentations at MGEs, and identifies key roles and important limitations of triage methods in use at events.Method:A literature review search strategy was employed (previously published, Turris et al, 2021) to search for event case reports published for the period from 2010-2022. Included papers were reviewed and data were extracted for all references to triage; authors were contacted for any missing details. Data extraction looked specifically for the following (if available) : triage mention, triage scale used, triage categories with patient counts, triage training and any information on clinical dispositions subsequent to triage assignment.Results:A total of 60 papers were included (Data extraction in progress, numbers to be finalized for presentation). Of these papers, a minority even made mention of triage, very few specified the triage scale used, and almost none described any triage training. Only a handful of case reports contained counts of patient presentation by triage categories. A couple of papers mentioned triage scales that were event type specific (sports, etc).Conclusion:Published literature to date contains limited details and agreement on triage methods in use at MGEs. Methods are largely from the emergency and disaster domains. Triage utility appears generally to be limited to designating location and provider, and for a snapshot of acuity post event. The use of triage scale has not been solely predictive of the need for transfer to hospital.