Strengthening Emergency Care Systems to Mitigate Public Health Challenges Arising from Influxes of Individuals with Different Socio-Cultural Backgrounds to a Level One Emergency Center in South East Europe

Michèle Twomey, Ana Šijački, Gert Krummrey, Tyson Welzel, Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos and Marko Ercegovac
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Michèle Twomey: Centre of Excellence in Emergency Medicine, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
Ana Šijački: Department of Emergency Medicine, Clinical Centre of Serbia, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Gert Krummrey: Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Tyson Welzel: Centre of Excellence in Emergency Medicine, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos: Centre of Excellence in Emergency Medicine, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
Marko Ercegovac: Department of Emergency Medicine, Clinical Centre of Serbia, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-6

Abstract: Emergency center visits are mostly unscheduled, undifferentiated, and unpredictable. A standardized triage process is an opportunity to obtain real-time data that paints a picture of the variation in acuity found in emergency centers. This is particularly pertinent as the influx of people seeking asylum or in transit mostly present with emergency care needs or first seek help at an emergency center. Triage not only reduces the risk of missing or losing a patient that may be deteriorating in the waiting room but also enables a time-critical response in the emergency care service provision. As part of a joint emergency care system strengthening and patient safety initiative, the Serbian Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Centre of Excellence in Emergency Medicine (CEEM) introduced a standardized triage process at the Clinical Centre of Serbia (CCS). This paper describes four crucial stages that were considered for the integration of a standardized triage process into acute care pathways.

Keywords: emergency care; triage; healthcare system strengthening; migrant health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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