Application of the five-level pediatric emergency triage system: a single center study

Objective To assess the effectiveness in optimizing resources and shortening critical children′s waiting time in pediatric emergency department (PED) with five-level pediatric emergency triage system (PETS). Methods This retrospective study was conducted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University after PETS was applied. The data of patients who visited the pediatric emergency department from January 2015 to December 2017 were collected and analyzed, including age, sex, diseases, visiting time, triage rate and destination. Results A total of 375 985 patients were included, among whom males were 225 308 (59.9%) and females were 150 677 (40.1%), all younger than 14 years of age. The number of critical cases (level Ⅰ, level Ⅱ and level Ⅲ) was increased from 4 719 (3.7%) in 2015, 12 209 (10.2%) in 2016 to 16 188 (12.7%) in 2017. The number of non-critical patients (level Ⅴ) decreased year by year, as from 98 213 (76.8%) in 2015 to 75 210 (62.6%) in 2016 and 78 857 (61.7%) in 2017. The patients who classified as level Ⅰ or levelⅡaccording to the PETS were seen immediately by physician (n=1855, 0.5%). Overall, 119 738 patients (98.3%) who were classified as level Ⅲ or level Ⅳ could be seen by physician in a timely manner according to triage guidelines, while 2 112 patients (1.7%) could not. The mean waiting time was 9.09 min in level Ⅲ, 17.7 min in level Ⅳ, and 55.76 min in level Ⅴ patients, respectively. The critical cases admitted to the intensive care units were 175 (36.2%) in 2015, 350 (62.8%) in 2016 and 374 (66.2%) in 2017. The etiologies were respiratory diseases (73.3%), gastrointestinal diseases (15.8%) and infectious diseases (3.1%). Conclusion The application of PETS could optimize emergency resources and shorten the waiting time of critically ill children. Key words: Hospitals, pediatric; Emergency service, hospital; Hospital information systems