BackgroundIn a mass casualty situation, medical personnel must rapidly assess and prioritize patients for treatment and transport. Triage is an important tool for medical management in disaster situations. Lack of common international and Swedish triage guidelines could lead to confusion. Attending the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) provider course is becoming compulsory in the northern part of Europe. The aim of the ATLS guidelines is provision of effective management of single critically injured patients, not mass casualties incidents. However, the use of the ABCDE algorithms from ATLS, has been proposed to be valuable, even in a disaster environment. The objective for this study was to determine whether the mnemonic ABCDE as instructed in the ATLS provider course, affects the ability of Swedish physician’s to correctly triage patients in a simulated mass casualty incident.MethodsThe study group included 169 ATLS provider students from 10 courses and course sites in Sweden; 153 students filled in an anonymous test just before the course and just after the course. The tests contained 3 questions based on overall priority. The assignment was to triage 15 hypothetical patients who had been involved in a bus crash. Triage was performed according to the ABCDE algorithm. In the triage, the ATLS students used a colour-coded algorithm with red for priority 1, yellow for priority 2, green for priority 3 and black for dead. The students were instructed to identify and prioritize 3 of the most critically injured patients, who should be the first to leave the scene. The same test was used before and after the course.ResultsThe triage section of the test was completed by 142 of the 169 participants both before and after the course. The results indicate that there was no significant difference in triage knowledge among Swedish physicians who attended the ATLS provider course. The results also showed that Swedish physicians have little experience of real mass casualty incidents and exercises.ConclusionThe mnemonic ABCDE doesn’t significantly affect the ability of triage among Swedish physicians. Actions to increase Swedish physicians’ knowledge of triage, within the ATLS context or separately, are warranted.

BackgroundA previous study has shown no measurable improvement in triage accuracy among physicians attending the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course and suggests a curriculum revision regarding triage. Other studies have indicated that cooperative learning helps students acquire knowledge.ObjectiveThe present study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of trauma cards in triage training for firemen.MethodsEighty-six firemen were randomly assigned into two groups: the trauma card group and the direct instruction group. Both groups received the same 30-min PowerPoint lecture on how to perform triage according to the Sort Assess Lifesaving interventions Treatment and transport (SALT) Mass Casualty Triage Algorithm. In the trauma card group, the participants were divided into groups of 3–5 and instructed to triage 10 trauma victims according to the descriptions on the trauma cards. In the direct instruction group, written forms about the same 10 victims were used and discussed as a continuation of the PowerPoint lecture. Total training time was 60 min for both groups. A test was distributed before and after the educational intervention to measure the individual triage skills. The same test was applied again 6 months later.ResultsThere was a significant improvement in triage skills directly after the intervention and this was sustained 6 months later. No significant difference in triage skills was seen between the trauma card group and the direct instruction group. Previous experience of multi-casualty incidents, years in service, level of education or age did not have any measurable effects on triage accuracy.ConclusionsOne hour of triage training with the SALT Mass Casualty Triage Algorithm was enough to significantly improve triage accuracy in both groups of firemen with sustained skills 6 months later. Further studies on the first assessment on scene versus patient outcome are necessary to provide evidence that this training can improve casualty outcome. The efficacy and validity of trauma cards for disaster management training need to be tested in future studies.

BackgroundThe pre-hospital triage process aims at identifying and prioritizing patients in the need of prompt intervention and/or evacuation. The objective of the present study was to evaluate triage decision skills in a Mass Casualty Incident drill. The study compares two groups of participants in Advanced Trauma Life Support and Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support courses.MethodsA questionnaire was used to deal with three components of triage of victims in a Mass Casualty Incident: decision-making; prioritization of 15 hypothetical casualties involved in a bus crash; and prioritization for evacuation. Swedish Advanced Trauma Life Support and Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support course participants filled in the same triage skills questionnaire just before and after their respective course.ResultsOne hundred fifty-three advanced Trauma Life Support course participants were compared to 175 Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support course participants. The response rates were 90% and 95%, respectively. A significant improvement was found between pre-test and post-test for the Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support group in regards to decision-making. This difference was only noticeable among the participants who had previously participated in Mass Casualty Incident drills or had experience of a real event (pre-test mean ± standard deviation 2.4 ± 0.68, post-test mean ± standard deviation 2.60 ± 0.59, P = 0.04). No improvement was found between pre-test and post-test for either group regarding prioritization of the bus crash casualties or the correct identification of the most injured patients for immediate evacuation.ConclusionsNeither Advanced Trauma Life Support nor Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support participants showed general improvement in their tested triage skills. However, participation in Mass Casualty Incident drills or experience of real events prior to the test performed here, were shown to be advantageous for Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support participants. These courses should be modified in order to assure proper training in triage skills.

BackgroundImproved trauma management can reduce the time between injury and medical interventions, thus decreasing morbidity and mortality. Triage at the emergency department is essential to ensure prioritization and timely assessment of injured patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate how a lack of formal triage system impacts timely intervention and mortality in a sub-Saharan referral hospital. Further, the study attempts to assess potential benefits of triage towards efficient management of trauma patients in one middle income country.MethodsA prospective descriptive study was conducted. Adult trauma patients admitted to the emergency department during an 8-month period at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya, were included. Mode of arrival and vital parameters were registered. Variables included in the analysis were Injury Severity Score, time before physician’s assessment, length of hospital stay, and mortality. The patients were retrospectively categorized according to the Rapid Emergency Triage and Treatment System (RETTS) from patient records.ResultsA total of 571 patients were analyzed, with a mean Injury Severity Score of 12.2 (SD 7.7) with a mean length of stay of 11.6 (SD 18.3) days. The mortality rate was 1.8%. The results obtained in this study illustrate that trauma patients admitted to the emergency department at Eldoret are not assessed in a timely fashion, and the time frame recommendations postulated by RETTS are not adhered to. Assessment of patients according to the triage algorithm used revealed a significantly higher average Injury Severity Score in the red category than in the other color categories.ConclusionThe results from this study clearly illustrate a lack of correct prioritization of patients in relation to the need for timely assessment. This is further demonstrated by the retrospective triage classification of patients, which identified patients with high ISS as in urgent need of care. Since no significant difference in to time to assessment regardless of injury severity was observed, the need for a well-functioning triage system is apparent.

Triage, derived from the French word for sorting, aims to assess and prioritize injured patients, regardless of whether the injuries are sustained from everyday road traffic accident with few injured or a mass casualty incident. Triage seeks to provide the greatest benefit to the largest number of casualties in order to minimize morbidity and mortality. Triage in a pre-hospital setting entails management and sorting of patients according to an assessment of medical need, prioritization, and evacuation. In-hospital triage aims to rapidly identify the most injured and ensure timely and appropriate treatment according to the patient's clinical urgency. A number of different systems for performing triage have been established and implemented globally. The methodology is recognized and utilized but there is still a need for an evidence-based strategy to optimize training and the efficacy of the different systems.The main aim of this thesis was to determine triage performance among prehospital personnel and investigate the potential advantage of a triage system for trauma patients. The papers included in this thesis evaluated the triage skills of physicians, pre-hospital personnel, and rescue services personnel by testing their performance before and after an educational intervention. The last paper evaluated potential benefits of using a triage system for trauma patients admitted to the emergency department at MOI Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya.The results presented in this thesis illustrate that triage skills are lacking among physicians. Experienced pre-hospital personnel are more skilled in performing triage than physicians. The triage skills of the rescue services personnel improved significantly after the educational intervention. Moreover, the potential benefit to trauma patients of implementing an in-hospital triage system in a resource-poor environment was shown. In conclusion, health care personnel, especially physicians without experience but highly involved in trauma patient management, seem to be in need of triage training. How to train, how to implement, and how to evaluate triage skills must be considered in order to develop effective training. POPULÄRVETENSKAPLIG SAMMANFATTNINGOrdet triage kommer från franskans "sortera" och är ett av det första stegen i omhändertagandet av skadade när det råder resursbrist. Från 1800-talets blodiga slagfält, till dagens skadeplats och akutmottagningar har sättet att triagera patienter utvecklats. Men då, som nu, är grundtanken den samma, att sortera och prioritera de skadade utifrån tillgängliga resurser och patienternas vårdbehov. Följaktligen har begreppet kommit att bli centralt inom ämnet katastrofmedicin. Att avlida till följd av skador i samband med allvarliga händelser men också skador i till exempel vardagstrafiken är ett globalt hälsoproblem. Tiden från olycka till sjukhusbehandling är en viktig och ofta avgörande överlevnadsfaktor för en patient. I det här sammanhanget talas det om "den gyllene timmen", som påvisar vikten av att få ...