Posters

Impact assessment of ocular emergency triage system at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital

Poster Details

First Author: M.Alsamnan SAUDI ARABIA

Co Author(s):    H. Al-Ghadeer   M. Al-Amery   R. Khandekar   S. Al-Dosari   M. Talea   D. Edward     

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To assess true emergencies among eye cases coming to the emergency department and impact of ocular emergency triage system.

Setting:

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Methods:

The rate of true emergencies by ophthalmic conditions and ophthalmic sub-specialties were estimated. The waiting time for patients of each color code (red, yellow and green) for care delivery was calculated. Data was collected using SPSS and was analyzed to calculate number and percentage proportion with 95% confidence interval as well as the rates of true ocular emergencies and its association with sex, age, and other determinants.

Results:

1000 case records was reviewed. The overall agreement of 85% using conventional method suggests that implementation of ophthalmic triage should be vigorous to have palpable impact. The median waiting time for examination in ER was 93 minutes 44 (72%) staff of ophthalmic emergency unit believes that only 25% of cases are true emergencies. 14 (22.6%) staff considers that half of the emergencies had true ophthalmic emergencies. While only four (6.5%) believe that around three fourth of patients in emergencies are true emergencies. The mean score of feedback of staff regarding the perceived status of current ophthalmic emergencies was 5.9±1.9

Conclusions:

A triage system is the essential structure by which all incoming emergency patients are prioritized using a standard rating scale. The purpose of a triage system is to ensure that the level of emergency care provided is commensurate with clinical criteria.

Financial Disclosure:

None