The Copenhagen Triage Algorithm: a randomized controlled trial

Table 1 An overview of existing triage models

	DEPT	ATS	MTS	ESI	CTAS
Introduction	2009	1994	1996	1999	1995
Levels of triage	5	5	5	5	5
Time to contact with doctor	0 - 15 - 60 - 180 - 240 min	0 - 10 - 30 - 60 - 120 min	0 - 10 - 60 - 120 - 240 min	0 min - NS	0 - 15 - 30 - 60 - 120 min
Vital signs	SAT, HR, BP, GCS, TP, RR	BP, GCS, RR, HR, SAT, BSL	Varies	HR, SAT, RR - TP^a	Varies
List of primary complaint	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Other factors				Resources needed
Inter-observer variability (Kappa/percentage)		38,7–79 %	K 0,48	K 0,78^b	K 0,2-0,84
Mortality^c	11 - 2,2 - 1,2 - 0,5 % - NS	12 - 2 - 1 - 0,3 - 0,03 %	10 - 0,04 - 0004 - 0002 - 0 %	25 - 4 - 2 - 1 - 0 %	22 - 0,22 - 0031 - 0018 - 0 %
LOS				4,7 - 4,3 - 4,3 - 7,3 - 2,0 days

DEPT Danish Emergency Process Triage, ATS Australasian Triage Scale, MTS Manchester Triage Scale, ESI Emergency Severity Index, CTAS Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale, SAT Blood Oxygen Saturation, HR Heart Rate, BP Blood Pressure, GCS Glascow Coma Scale, TP Temperature, RR Respiratory Rate, BSL Blood Sugar Level, NS Not specified, LOS length of stay
^aOnly measured for patients under < 3 years of age
^bWeighted Kappa
^cMortality measures were for different time intervals DEPT - In hospital, ATS - 24-h, MTS - In ED, ESI - 60 day, CTAS - In ED

ISSN: 1757-7241