A low proportion of undertriage validates the new West coast system for triage-Paediatric.

AIM: There is a lack of studies on paediatric triage systems. This study aimed to evaluate patient safety of the Gothenburg-developed paediatric triage system West Coast System for Triage-Paediatric (WEST-P). METHOD: This study was performed at the paediatric emergency department in Gothenburg, Sweden, October 2020 to April 2021. Included patients were double-triaged with the WEST-P, and the established Rapid Emergency Triage and Treatment System-Paediatrics (RETTS-p). We compared the level of urgency between both systems to identify potentially undertriaged patients. Also, we assessed the patient safety according to clinical assessment at presentation, and pre-defined criteria. RESULTS: This study included 2290 (23%) of triaged patients (44% girls, median age: 5.0 years) during the study period. A higher number of patients triaged to low urgency in WEST-P compared to RETTS-p (p < 0.0001) was observed, and 497 cases with low WEST-P and high RETTS-p urgencies identified. Of these, 29 had a clinical assessment indicating high urgency. After patient safety assessment, seven (0.4%) were determined undertriaged by the new triage system WEST-P. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate a low risk of undertriage in the new WEST-P. Thus, the WEST-P has a high degree of patient safety when used in a paediatric emergency department.

[Fewer overtriaged children with PEPP compared to RETTS-p at a Swedish pediatric emergency department]. / Svenskanpassad triage gav färre överprioriteringar på barnakut.

Pediatric Priority Process (PEPP) is a triage system derived from the South African Triage Scale. It was developed by healthcare professionals at the Queen Silvia Children's hospital in Gothenburg. PEPP is a four-level triage system with two parts: vital parameters and warning symptoms. The aim of the study was to compare the amount of overtriage and the specificity for children in need of hospitalization in PEPP compared to RETTS-p. Our study shows that PEPP yields significantly fewer children with a high priority and has a higher specificity than RETTS-p. Senior triage nurses judged PEPP to have a higher accuracy, and the system triages children in need of supplemental oxygen higher than RETTS-p. We conclude that PEPP has high patient safety, and the next step is to implement it at our pediatric emergency department and to continue research for further validation.