Factors Associated with Emergency Department Length of Stay in Critically Ill Patients: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND Length of stay (LOS) in the emergency department (ED) should be measured and evaluated comprehensively as an important indicator of hospital emergency service. In this study, we aimed to analyze clinical characteristics of critically ill patients admitted to the ED and identify the factors associated with LOS. MATERIAL AND METHODS All patients with level 1 and level 2 of the Emergency Severity Index who were admitted to the ED from January 2018 to December 2019 were included in this retrospective study. The patients were divided into 2 groups: LOS ≥4 h and LOS <4 h. Variables were comprehensively analyzed and compared between the 2 groups. RESULTS A total of 19 616 patients, including 7269 patients in the LOS ≥4 h group and 12 347 patients in the LOS <4 group, were included. Advanced age, admission in winter and during the night shift, and diseases excluding nervous system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and trauma were associated with higher risk of LOS. Nervous system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, trauma, and procedures including tracheal intubation, surgery, percutaneous coronary intervention, and thrombolysis were associated with lower risk of LOS. CONCLUSIONS Prolonged LOS in the ED was associated with increased age and admission in winter and during the night shift, while shortened LOS was associated with nervous system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and trauma, as well as with procedures including tracheal intubation, surgery, percutaneous coronary intervention, and thrombolysis. Our findings can serve as a guide for ED physicians to individually evaluate patient condition and allocate medical resources more effectively.

The development and validation of a resource consumption score of an emergency department consultation.

BACKGROUND: Emergency Department (ED) visits and health care costs are increasing globally, but little is known about contributing factors of ED resource consumption. This study aims to analyse and to predict the total ED resource consumption out of the patient and consultation characteristics in order to execute performance analysis and evaluate quality improvements. METHODS: Characteristics of ED visits of a large Swiss university hospital were summarized according to acute patient condition factors (e.g. chief complaint, resuscitation bay use, vital parameter deviations), chronic patient conditions (e.g. age, comorbidities, drug intake), and contextual factors (e.g. night-time admission). Univariable and multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted with the total ED resource consumption as the dependent variable. RESULTS: In total, 164,729 visits were included in the analysis. Physician resources accounted for the largest proportion (54.8%), followed by radiology (19.2%), and laboratory work-up (16.2%). In the multivariable final model, chief complaint had the highest impact on the total ED resource consumption, followed by resuscitation bay use and admission by ambulance. The impact of age group was small. The multivariable final model was validated (R2 of 0.54) and a scoring system was derived out of the predictors. CONCLUSIONS: More than half of the variation in total ED resource consumption can be predicted by our suggested model in the internal validation, but further studies are needed for external validation. The score developed can be used to calculate benchmarks of an ED and provides leaders in emergency care with a tool that allows them to evaluate resource decisions and to estimate effects of organizational changes.

Killed in action (KIA): an analysis of military personnel who died of their injuries before reaching a definitive medical treatment facility in Afghanistan (2004-2014).

INTRODUCTION: The majority of combat deaths occur before arrival at a medical treatment facility but no previous studies have comprehensively examined this phase of care. METHODS: The UK Joint Theatre Trauma Registry was used to identify all UK military personnel who died in Afghanistan (2004-2014). These data were linked to non-medical tactical and operational records to provide an accurate timeline of events. Cause of death was determined from records taken at postmortem review. The primary objective was to report time between injury and death in those killed in action (KIA); secondary objectives included: reporting mortality at key North Atlantic Treaty Organisation timelines (0, 10, 60, 120 min), comparison of temporal lethality for different anatomical injuries and analysing trends in the case fatality rate (CFR). RESULTS: 2413 UK personnel were injured in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014; 448 died, with a CFR of 18.6%. 390 (87.1%) of these died prehospital (n=348 KIA, n=42 killed non-enemy action). Complete data were available for n=303 (87.1%) KIA: median Injury Severity Score 75.0 (IQR 55.5-75.0). The predominant mechanisms were improvised explosive device (n=166, 54.8%) and gunshot wound (n=96, 31.7%).In the KIA cohort, the median time to death was 0.0 (IQR 0.0-21.8) min; 173 (57.1%) died immediately (0 min). At 10, 60 and 120 min post injury, 205 (67.7%), 277 (91.4%) and 300 (99.0%) casualties were dead, respectively. Whole body primary injury had the fastest mortality. Overall prehospital CFR improved throughout the period while in-hospital CFR remained constant. CONCLUSION: Over two-thirds of KIA deaths occurred within 10 min of injury. Improvement in the CFR in Afghanistan was predominantly in the prehospital phase.

Characterizing Natural Recovery after Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.

The predominant tool used to predict outcomes after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI), in association with the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS). These measures have evolved based on analyses of large amounts of longitudinal neurological recovery data published in numerous separate studies. This article reviews and synthesizes published data on neurological recovery from multiple sources, only utilizing data in which the sacral sparing definition was applied for determination of completeness. Conversion from a complete to incomplete injury is more common in tetraplegia than paraplegia. The majority of AIS conversion and motor recovery occurs within the first 6-9 months, with the most rapid rate of motor recovery occurring in the first three months after injury. Motor score changes, as well as recovery of motor levels, are described with the initial strength of muscles as well as the levels of the motor zone of partial preservation influencing the prognosis. Total motor recovery is greater for patients with initial AIS B than AIS A, and greater after initial AIS C than with motor complete injuries. Older age has a negative impact on neurological and functional recovery after SCI; however, the specific age (whether >50 or >65 years) and underlying reasons for this impact are unclear. Penetrating injury is more likely to lead to a classification of a neurological complete injury compared with blunt trauma and reduces the likelihood of AIS conversion at one year. There are insufficient data to support gender having a major effect on neurological recovery after SCI.

Clinical and obstetric situation of pregnant women who require prehospital emergency care.

OBJECTIVES: to identify the clinical and obstetric situation of pregnant women who required emergency care, considering the adequacy of their requirement. METHODS: this is a cross-sectional study, developed in the headquarters of the Mobile Emergency Care Services from a state in the Brazilian Northeast, through the analysis of 558 reports of obstetric patients attended in 2016. The magnitude of the associations was expressed by odds ratio and confidence intervals, considering a 5% significance level. RESULTS: more than half (50.9%) requirements for emergency care were from women who went into labor (non-expulsive), especially among third trimester pregnant women (p < 0.000). Most clinical and obstetric parameters were normal. CONCLUSIONS: the inadequate demands for emergency care services reflect the excessive medicalization of the gestational process and shows how important it is to discuss the physiological symptoms that involve pregnancy, so that a more egalitarian and efficient urgency service can be offered.

Emergency care: Operationalizing the practice through a concept analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Current uses of emergency care are ambiguous and lack clarity, leading to imprecise use of the term in nursing practice. An explicit definition of emergency care is necessary to build and advance the field. An empirically driven definition of emergency care is lacking in the refereed literature. The purpose of this article was to present an in-depth inquiry of emergency care that contributes to the advancement of knowledge and to articulate a defensible definition of emergency care. METHODS: This concept analysis was performed using the eight-step approach of Walker and Avant. A database search within the disciplines of nursing, medicine, education, and social sciences was conducted using the keyword emergency care. Databases of refereed literature were reviewed. Additional searches of nonrefereed literature, such as dictionaries and thesauri, were also examined. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this concept analysis, the attributes of emergency care include the immediate evaluation and treatment of an unexpected illness or injury. Emergency care is not specific to a setting or location. Antecedents to emergency care consist of a precipitating event, recognition that medical help is required, and access to emergency care. A model, borderline, related, and contrary cases of emergency care are presented. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The identification of emergency care attributes in this concept analysis contributes to the body of knowledge in emergency care and clarifies the ambiguity of the concept to prompt developments in practice, theory, and research with implications for emergency nurse practitioner clinical education, and scope of practice regulation.

Taxonomy of the form and function of primary care services in or alongside emergency departments: concepts paper.

Primary care services in or alongside emergency departments look and function differently and are described using inconsistent terminology. Research to determine effectiveness of these models is hampered by outdated classification systems, limiting the opportunity for data synthesis to draw conclusions and inform decision-making and policy. We used findings from a literature review, a national survey of Type 1 emergency departments in England and Wales, staff interviews, other routine data sources and discussions from two stakeholder events to inform the taxonomy. We categorised the forms inside or outside the emergency department: inside primary care services may be integrated with emergency department patient flow or may run parallel to that activity; outside services may be offered on site or off site. We then describe a conceptual spectrum of integration: identifying constructs that influence how the services function-from being closer to an emergency medicine service or to usual primary care. This taxonomy provides a basis for future evaluation of service models that will comprise the evidence base to inform policy-making in this domain. Commissioners and service providers can consider these constructs in characterising and designing services depending on local circumstances and context.

Proximity-Based Emergency Response Communities for Patients With Allergies Who Are at Risk of Anaphylaxis: Clustering Analysis and Scenario-Based Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: Anaphylaxis is a potentially fatal allergic reaction. However, many patients at risk of anaphylaxis who should permanently carry a life-saving epinephrine auto injector (EAI) do not carry one at the moment of allergen exposure. The proximity-based emergency response communities (ERC) strategy suggests speeding EAI delivery by alerting patient-peers carrying EAI to respond and give their EAI to a nearby patient in need. OBJECTIVES: This study had two objectives: (1) to analyze 10,000 anaphylactic events from the European Anaphylaxis Registry (EAR) by elicitor and location in order to determine typical anaphylactic scenarios and (2) to identify patients' behavioral and spatial factors influencing their response to ERC emergency requests through a scenario-based survey. METHODS: Data were collected and analyzed in two phases: (1) clustering 10,000 EAR records by elicitor and incident location and (2) conducting a two-center scenario-based survey of adults and parents of minors with severe allergy who were prescribed EAI, in Israel and Germany. Each group received a four-part survey that examined the effect of two behavioral constructs-shared identity and diffusion of responsibility-and two spatial factors-emergency time and emergency location-in addition to sociodemographic data. We performed descriptive, linear correlation, analysis of variance, and t tests to identify patients' decision factors in responding to ERC alerts. RESULTS: A total of 53.1% of EAR cases were triggered by food at patients' home, and 46.9% of them were triggered by venom at parks. Further, 126 Israeli and 121 German participants completed the survey and met the inclusion criteria. Of the Israeli participants, 80% were parents of minor patients with a risk of anaphylaxis due to food allergy; their mean age was 32 years, and 67% were women. In addition, 20% were adult patients with a mean age of 21 years, and 48% were female. Among the German patients, 121 were adults, with an average age of 47 years, and 63% were women. In addition, 21% were allergic to food, 75% were allergic to venom, and 2% had drug allergies. The overall willingness to respond to ERC events was high. Shared identity and the willingness to respond were positively correlated (r=0.51, P<.001) in the parent group. Parents had a stronger sense of shared identity than adult patients (t243= -9.077, P<.001). The bystander effect decreased the willingness of all patients, except the parent group, to respond (F1,269=28.27, P<.001). An interaction between location and time of emergency (F1,473=77.304, P<.001) revealed lower levels of willingness to respond in strange locations during nighttime. CONCLUSIONS: An ERC allergy app has the potential to improve outcomes in case of anaphylactic events, but this is dependent on patient-peers' willingness to respond. Through a two-stage process, our study identified the behavioral and spatial factors that could influence the willingness to respond, providing a basis for future research of proximity-based mental health communities.

Should freestanding emergency departments be considered in Australia?

The concept of freestanding EDs is a popular operational model of emergency care in the USA. This model has been described as an emergency physician-created innovative solution in resolving ongoing overcrowding issues in EDs. A decentralised community-based emergency care model may be a solution to meet the increasing demand for emergency and unscheduled acute care in Australia. It may also help to reduce the number of acute hospital admissions through EDs. The aim of freestanding EDs should be to manage and discharge a cohort of patients, mainly in Australasian Triage Scale 3 and 4 categories, currently seen in hospital-based EDs. This article briefly examines the potential merits and issues if this concept is considered in Australia. It also provides an early proposed model for such EDs.

Classification of hospital admissions into emergency and elective care: a machine learning approach.

Rising admissions from emergency departments (EDs) to hospitals are a primary concern for many healthcare systems. The issue of how to differentiate urgent admissions from non-urgent or even elective admissions is crucial. We aim to develop a model for classifying inpatient admissions based on a patient's primary diagnosis as either emergency care or elective care and predicting urgency as a numerical value. We use supervised machine learning techniques and train the model with physician-expert judgments. Our model is accurate (96%) and has a high area under the ROC curve (>.99). We provide the first comprehensive classification and urgency categorization for inpatient emergency and elective care. This model assigns urgency values to every relevant diagnosis in the ICD catalog, and these values are easily applicable to existing hospital data. Our findings may provide a basis for policy makers to create incentives for hospitals to reduce the number of inappropriate ED admissions.

Influencia del reconocimiento sanitario previo sobre el despliegue del apoyo sanitario militar en teatros de operaciones / Medical site survey influence over medical treatment facility deployment in operations areas

ANTECEDENTES: Operaciones internacionales con distinto nivel de amenaza incluyen despliegues sanitarios. Para dichas operaciones en la fase de planeamiento se incluye personal experto que debe estudiar los aspectos de las mismas con un reconocimiento previo sobre el terreno. En ocasiones, no se ha incluido el personal sanitario. OBJETIVOS: El objetivo de este estudio ha sido valorar el impacto que tiene dentro del planeamiento específico sanitario el reconocimiento previo sobre el terreno para la ejecución de las operaciones en el exterior. Operaciones que incluyen recursos sanitarios en zonas con amenaza bélica o violenta. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Estudio observacional que evaluó 13 operaciones en las que se desplegaron recursos sanitarios, habiéndose realizado un reconocimiento sanitario previo en 7 de ellas y el reconocimiento durante la operación en 6. La capacidad de funcionamiento total del recurso se valoró como adecuado cuando se alcanzó en un tiempo máximo previamente determinado. En la comparación entre las proporciones se ha utilizado la prueba de ji al cuadrado o el test exacto de Fisher. RESULTADOS: Se estudiaron 13 operaciones sanitarias. En las 7 misiones en las que se realizó reconocimiento sanitario previo a la misma, en 6 (85,7%) se alcanzó el tiempo mínimo previsto (P=0,005). En cambio, en las 6 misiones cuyo planeamiento sanitario se realizó durante las mismas, ninguna alcanzó el tiempo mínimo (P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONES: El planeamiento del aspecto sanitario, con reconocimiento previo especializado por parte de personal del Cuerpo Militar de Sanidad formando parte del equipo, constituye una actividad relevante para lograr el tiempo de despliegue considerado adecuado, y por tanto conseguir los objetivos marcados durante la fase de preparación

INTRODUCTION: Medical treatment facilities are deployed in international missions. Site Survey carry on by experts shall be done to reach the aims. In some cases, this task does not involve to the medical element. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study has been to assess the impact of the medical site survey and its planning in order to achieve the deployment of medical resources in bellicose, violent or austere environments abroad. METHODS: Observational study with the evaluation of 13 medical deployments resources. In 7 cases were assessed previous medical site survey and 6 during the operation itself. The operating capability was considered fully achieved when was reached into a maximum known time. Proportions were compared with ji test and exactly Fisher test. RESULTS: From the 13 medical operations 7 missions with previous medical site survey, 6 reached "full capability" in a minimum time (P=0,005). However, on the 6 missions where the study was performed without a previous one survey, "full capability" was never reached in this minimum time (P=0,005). CONCLUSION: The key to reach a successful medical operation depends on its previous planning though a medical site survey and carried out by military health corp experts. This is the way to reach the aims defined during the previous phase

End-tidal carbon dioxide output in manual cardiopulmonary resuscitation versus active compression-decompression device during prehospital quality controlled resuscitation: a case series study.

BACKGROUND: Active compression-decompression (ACD) devices have enhanced end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) output in experimental cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) studies. However, the results in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients have shown inconsistent outcomes, and earlier studies lacked quality control of CPR attempts. We compared manual CPR with ACD-CPR by measuring ETCO2 output using an audiovisual feedback defibrillator to ensure continuous high quality resuscitation attempts. METHODS: 10 witnessed OHCAs were resuscitated, rotating a 2 min cycle with manual CPR and a 2 min cycle of ACD-CPR. Patients were intubated and the ventilation rate was held constant during CPR. CPR quality parameters and ETCO2 values were collected continuously with the defibrillator. Differences in ETCO2 output between manual CPR and ACD-CPR were analysed using a linear mixed model where ETCO2 output produced by a summary of the 2 min cycles was included as the dependent variable, the patient as a random factor and method as a fixed effect. These comparisons were made within each OHCA case to minimise confounding factors between the cases. RESULTS: Mean length of the CPR episodes was 37 (SD 8) min. Mean compression depth was 76 (SD 1.3) mm versus 71 (SD1.0) mm, and mean compression rate was 100 per min (SD 6.7) versus 105 per min (SD 4.9) between ACD-CPR and manual CPR, respectively. For ETCO2 output, the interaction between the method and the patient was significant (P<0.001). ETCO2 output was higher with manual CPR in 6 of the 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that quality controlled ACD-CPR is not superior to quality controlled manual CPR when ETCO2 is used as a quantitative measure of CPR effectiveness. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00951704; Results.

Urgency of caesarean section, grading, alarm chain and intrauterine resuscitation - a survey of Scandinavian practice.

BACKGROUND: About 40,000 women have caesarean section in Scandinavia each year. Organizational factors for emergency caesarean section (CS), classification, anaesthetic practice, alarm chain, intrauterine resuscitation has all been investigated in the United Kingdom, but no information from the Scandinavian countries exists. METHODS: Using publicly available data from the National Board of Health, obstetric anaesthetic departments were identified. The heads of the departments provided e-mail contact details of two anaesthesiologists regularly practicing obstetric anaesthesia who were then surveyed. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-five specialists from 82 departments in Scandinavia replied to our survey. Ninety-five percent of Danish specialists reported a three-grade classification system for urgency CS. Where classification in Denmark was enumerative classification, Norwegians equally reported enumerative and verbal descriptors, whereas Swedish specialists mostly reported verbal descriptors. Local guidelines describing decision-to-delivery interval for emergency CS was reported by 100% of Danish specialists vs. 47% from Norway and 85% from Sweden. Mean benchmark decision-to-delivery interval for emergency CS was 12.7 min. General anaesthesia for emergency CS was highly favoured in Norway (95%) and Sweden (97%), compared to Denmark (49%). Twenty specialists reported existence of local guidelines for intrauterine resuscitation. CONCLUSION: Our survey of Scandinavian specialists indicate emergency CS practise differs from United Kingdom practices in several aspects; general anaesthesia is by the majority of Scandinavian specialists reported as the default choice for emergency CS and benchmark for decision-to-delivery interval is < 20 min. Nomenclature used for classification showed considerable variance in Norway and Sweden compared to Denmark. No joint Scandinavian guidelines exist.

Acolhimento com classificação de risco em unidade de pronto atendimento: estudo avaliativo / Acogimiento con clasificación de riesgo en unidad de pronta atención: estudio evaluativo / User embracement with risk classification in an emergency care unit: an evaluative study

RESUMO Objetivo Descrever a avaliação da estrutura, processo e resultado do Acolhimento com Classificação de Risco, na perspectiva dos médicos e enfermeiros de uma Unidade de Pronto Atendimento. Método Estudo avaliativo, descritivo, quantitativo, desenvolvido em Santa Catarina. Dados coletados com instrumento validado e adaptado, constituído por 21 itens distribuídos nas dimensões Estrutura (instalações), Processo (atividades e relações no atendimento) e Resultado (efeitos do atendimento). Na análise, aplicaram-se a estatística descritiva, o cálculo do Ranking Médio e o da Pontuação Média. Resultados A amostra foi de 37 participantes. Dos 21 itens avaliados, 11 (52,4%) tiveram Ranking Médio entre 3 e 4, e nenhum atingiu o máximo (5 pontos). A "Priorização dos casos graves" e o "Atendimento primário por gravidade do caso" obtiveram maior Ranking Médio (4,5), enquanto a "Discussão sobre fluxograma" revelou menor Ranking (2,1). As dimensões Estrutura, Processo e Resultado atingiram, respectivamente, as pontuações médias 23,9, 21,9 e 25,5, indicando avaliação Precária (17,5 a 26,1 pontos). Conclusão Há precarização do Acolhimento com Classificação de Risco, em especial no que se refere ao processo, que obteve menor nível de satisfação dos participantes.

RESUMEN Objetivo Describir la evaluación de estructura, proceso y resultado del Acogimiento con Clasificación de Riesgo, en la perspectiva de los médicos y enfermeros de una Unidad de Pronta Atención. Método Estudio evaluativo, descriptivo, cuantitativo, desarrollado en Santa Catarina. Datos recolectados con instrumento validado y adaptado, constituido de 21 puntos distribuidos en las dimensiones Estructura (instalaciones), Proceso (actividades y relaciones en la atención) y Resultado (efectos de la atención). En el análisis, se aplicaron la estadística descriptiva, el cálculo del Ranqueo Medio y el de la Puntuación Media. Resultados La muestra fue de 37 participantes. De los 21 puntos evaluados, 11 (52,4%) tuvieron Ranqueo Medio entre 3 y 4, y ninguno alcanzó el máximo (5 puntos). La "Priorización de los casos graves" y la "Atención primaria por gravedad del caso" obtuvieron mayor Ranqueo Medio (4,5), mientras que la "Discusión sobre flujograma" reveló menor Ranqueo (2,1). Las dimensiones Estructura, Proceso y Resultado alcanzaron, respectivamente, las puntuaciones medias 23,9, 21,9 y 25,5, indicando evaluación Precaria (17,5 a 26,1 puntos). Conclusión Hay precarización del Acogimiento con Clasificación de Riesgo, en especial en lo que se refiere al proceso, que obtuvo menor nivel de satisfacción de los participantes.

ABSTRACT Objective Describing the evaluation of the Structure, Process and Outcome of User Embracement with Risk Classification of an Emergency Care Unit from the perspective of physicians and nurses. Method An evaluative, descriptive, quantitative study developed in Santa Catarina. Data were collected using a validated and adapted instrument consisting of 21 items distributed in the dimensions of Structure (facilities), Process (activities and relationships in providing care) and Outcome (care effects). In the analysis, descriptive statistics and the Mean Ranking and Mean Score calculations were applied. Results The sample consisted of 37 participants. From the 21 evaluated items, 11 (52.4%) had a Mean Ranking between 3 and 4, and none of them reached the maximum ranking (5 points). "Prioritization of severe cases" and "Primary care according to the severity of the case" reached a higher Mean Ranking (4.5), while "Flowchart discussion" had the lowest Ranking (2.1). The dimensions of Structure, Process and Outcome reached mean scores of 23.9, 21.9 and 25.5, respectively, indicating a Precarious evaluation (17.5 to 26.1 points). Conclusion User Embracement with Risk Classification is precarious, especially regarding the Process which obtained a lower satisfaction level from the participants.

Urgencias Pediátricas del Hospital Materno Infantil Gregorio Marañón / Pediatric Emergency Department of the Hospital Materno Infantil Gregorio Marañón

El presente documento refleja un resumen de la organización y actividad actual de la Unidad de Urgencias Pediátricas. Se describe la misión, visión y valores de la unidad. Se comenta la actividad asistencial, con la cartera de servicios, y las líneas de docencia e investigación. A continuación se expondrán las líneas estratégicas y de humanización ya emprendidas y futuras (AU)

This document summarizes the current organization and activity of the Pediatric Emergency Unit, describing its main mission, vision and values. The clinical assistance activities are described, including the services portfolio, and the teaching and research interests. Lastly, the document emphasizes the present and future directions of our humanization strategies (AU)

CLARIPED: a new tool for risk classification in pediatric emergencies / CLARIPED: um novo instrumento para classificação de risco em emergências pediátricas

OBJECTIVE: To present a new pediatric risk classification tool, CLARIPED, and describe its development steps. METHODS: Development steps: (i) first round of discussion among experts, first prototype; (ii) pre-test of reliability, 36 hypothetical cases; (iii) second round of discussion to perform adjustments; (iv) team training; (v) pre-test with patients in real time; (vi) third round of discussion to perform new adjustments; (vii) final pre-test of validity (20% of medical treatments in five days). RESULTS: CLARIPED features five urgency categories: Red (Emergency), Orange (very urgent), Yellow (urgent), Green (little urgent) and Blue (not urgent). The first classification step includes the measurement of four vital signs (VIPE score); the second step consists in the urgency discrimination assessment. Each step results in assigning a color, selecting the most urgent one for the final classification. Each color corresponds to a maximum waiting time for medical care and referral to the most appropriate physical area for the patient's clinical condition. The interobserver agreement was substantial (kappa=0.79) and the final pre-test, with 82 medical treatments, showed good correlation between the proportion of patients in each urgency category and the number of used resources (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: CLARIPED is an objective and easy-to-use tool for simple risk classification, of which pre-tests suggest good reliability and validity. Larger-scale studies on its validity and reliability in different health contexts are ongoing and can contribute to the implementation of a nationwide pediatric risk classification system.

OBJETIVO: Apresentar um novo instrumento de classificação de risco pediátrico, o CLARIPED, e descrever as etapas de seu desenvolvimento. MÉTODOS: Etapas do desenvolvimento: (i) primeira rodada de discussão entre especialistas, primeiro protótipo; (ii) pré-teste de confiabilidade, 36 casos hipotéticos; (iii) segunda rodada de discussão para ajustes; (iv) treinamento da equipe; (v) pré-teste com pacientes em tempo real; (vi) terceira rodada de discussão para novos ajustes; (vii) pré-teste final de validade (20% dos atendimentos de cinco dias). RESULTADOS: O CLARIPED apresenta cinco categorias de urgência: Vermelha (emergência), Laranja (muito urgente), Amarela (urgente), Verde (pouco urgente) e Azul (sem urgência). A primeira etapa da classificação inclui a aferição de quatro sinais vitais (escore Vipe); a segunda etapa consiste na avaliação de discriminadores de urgência. Cada etapa resulta na atribuição de uma cor, seleciona-se a de maior urgência para a classificação final. Cada cor corresponde a um tempo máximo de espera pelo atendimento médico e ao encaminhamento à área física mais adequada à condição clínica do paciente. A concordância interobservador foi substancial (kappa=0,79) e o pré-teste final, com 82 atendimentos, evidenciou boa correlação entre a proporção de pacientes em cada categoria de urgência e o número de recursos usados (p<0,001). CONCLUSÕES: O CLARIPED é um instrumento para classificação de risco simples, objetivo e de fácil uso, cujos pré-testes sugerem boa confiabilidade e validade. Estudos em maior escala sobre sua validade e confiabilidade em diferentes contextos de saúde estão em curso e podem contribuir para a adoção de um sistema de classificação de risco pediátrico em âmbito nacional.

Centros de referencia: Hospital Infantil Miguel Servet / Reference centers: Hospital Infantil Universitario Miguel Servet

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