ABSTRACT
Objective: Triage is an essential first step in the efficient and effective running of any emergency department. A good triage tool saves lives and reduces mortality. The Triage Early Warning Score (TEWS) is a useful tool used to identify patients in emergency departments who are at risk of deterioration and who may require admission. As this triage tool has only been evaluated to a limited extent; this study assessed its effectiveness in identifying patients at risk of early deterioration to enable timely medical intervention.Design and setting: This was a retrospective study of medical records within the accident and emergency department of an urban public hospital. Outcome measures: The calculated TEWS was compared to one of four possible outcomes viz. discharge within 24 hours; admission to the ward; admission to the intensive care unit (ICU); or death in hospital. Pearson's chi-squared tests and cross-tabulation was used to determine the statistical significance of the association. Results: Of the 265 patient records analysed; 233 (87.9) had a TEWS of 7. Of patients with a TEWS of 7; 53.7were discharged; compared to 18.7with a score ? 7; who were discharged. The average score of the four patients who died was 9.5; and 8.2 for the three admitted to ICU. Higher TEWS were significantly associated with increased admission to hospital and in-hospital deaths (p-value 0.032). Conclusion: An effective triage scoring system ensures that those requiring emergency care are appropriately categorised. Prompt intervention will either reverse further physiological decline or facilitate timely referral to the appropriate service level; including ICU