TRIAGE has become, in this era of emergency department crowding, the most critical patient safety process at all points of entry. Triage First has a solid ten-year history of promoting a comprehensive understanding of ED triage and related processes through its consulting and education services.

Accurate acuity designation is essential to prevent under-triage, which compromises quality and patient safety; and over-triage, which exhausts ED resources. However, assignment of an acuity category is only one aspect of the ART and SCIENCE of TRIAGE. Education with regard to triage absolutely must include an acuity categorization system, but also must be comprehensive with regard to the other aspects of triage as a point-of-entry process, such as appropriate disposition and systematic assessment skills critical to enable use of ANY acuity categorization system.

While a standardized acuity system is necessary and beneficial for U.S. EDs, our experience shows that MIS-triage is mostly due to "lack of education, inexperience, and empathy burnout." Our comprehensive triage course addresses and provides solutions needed in all of these areas and more.

We are confident that the workshop the Triage First team has created and refined will prove invaluable to any emergency department. As a leading innovator in emergency department triage and workflow, Triage First stands where compassion is a part of good business—where healthcare is focused on supporting our patients AND ourselves.

Triage First is the help you need to...

Make it better.

Rebecca S. McNair, RN, CEN
President, Triage First, Inc.