[Triage in acute medical admission units].

INTRODUCTION

Many emergency departments use validated triage tools. It is currently undocumented if such a practice is common in Danish medical admission units (MAU). The current study was conducted in order to clarify this.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Questionnaire survey with data collected from the intern on call at the medical departments of all Danish hospitals listed on sundhed.dk.

RESULTS

We received 87 answers from 60 individual MAUs covered by a total of 83 interns on call. The MAUs had a median of eight beds and 14 admissions a day. An intern was on call 24 hours a day at 95% of the MAUs. At 87% of the MAUs, a doctor was contacted by the admitting physician, while the contact was the responsibility of a nurse in 13% of MAUs. None of the contacted MAUs used a validated triage tool and 95% answered that they triaged on the basis of individual clinical assessment of patients. However, 22% answered that selected groups of patients were routinely assessed by a senior physician.

CONCLUSION

None of the Danish MAUs uses a validated triage tool to prioritize acutely admitted medical patients.