Shah C P, Carr L M
Can Med Assoc J. 1974 May 4;110(9):1039 passim.
Recently, emergency departments across the continent have become crowded with patients requiring non-urgent care. To alleviate this situation at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, receptionists in the emergency department direct patients requiring urgent care to the emergency room and those requiring non-urgent care to a screening clinic (triage). During a two-month period, 13,551 patients visited the emergency department. The triage receptionist sent 8368 patients to the emergency room and 5183 to the screening clinic. About 45% of patients visiting the emergency room had suffered accidents and injuries, and 19% had respiratory illness; 15% of patient visits resulted in admission to hospital. In contrast to this, 49% of patients sent to the screening clinic had respiratory illness and 18% had infective disease; less than 1% of patients needed hospitalization.
最近，整个大陆的急诊科都挤满了需要非紧急护理的患者。为缓解多伦多病童医院的这种情况，急诊科的接待员将需要紧急护理的患者引导至急诊室，将需要非紧急护理的患者引导至筛查诊所（分诊处）。在两个月的时间里，有13551名患者前往急诊科。分诊接待员将8368名患者送往急诊室，5183名患者送往筛查诊所。前往急诊室的患者中约45%遭遇了事故和受伤，19%患有呼吸道疾病；15%的患者就诊后住院。与此形成对比的是，送往筛查诊所的患者中49%患有呼吸道疾病，18%患有传染病；不到1%的患者需要住院治疗。
