Prehospital triage tools across the world: a scoping review of the published literature

Table 1 Article inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria
Prehospital/EMS focused*	In-hospital focus only
In-depth description of triage tool included^#	Hypothetical triage tool^@
Triage tool/process must be a main focus^$	Systematic review/meta-analysis
Traditional ground and aeromedical EMS system	Atypical EMS systems
Observational studies with n ≥ 50	Observational study with n < 50
Interventional studies	Triage by EMS dispatch/communications center
	Mass casualty triage tool
	Termination of resuscitation tool
	Prehospital clinical algorithm or protocol^{^}

*The study had to specifically include patient-level prehospital data
^#The triage tool must be fully described within the article or through a provided reference. The tool should help the provider arrive at a specific, often binary, triage decision (e.g., Transport patient to trauma center or not; label patient as low or high acuity)
^$Assessment of triage outcomes or process must be a stated primary or secondary objective of the study
^@The triage tool is not actively used in prehospital clinical practice, is used for research purposes only, or is in development
^Excludes EMS agency prehospital algorithms or protocols used for clinical management en route (e.g., “asthma protocol”) or those that rely on a single diagnostic tool such as a fingerstick glucose or EKG to make a triage decision (e.g., “chest pain protocol”)

ISSN: 1757-7241