Prehospital and disaster medicine
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Jul 2010
Physiological scoring: an aid to emergency medical services transport decisions?
Attendance at UK emergency departments is rising steadily despite the proliferation of alternative unscheduled care providers. Evidence is mixed on the willingness of emergency medical services (EMS) providers to decline to transport patients and the safety of incorporating such an option into EMS provision. Physiologically based Early Warning Scores are in use in many hospitals and emergency departments, but not yet have been proven to be of benefit in the prehospital arena. ⋯ Despite significant over-triage, this system could have diverted 79 patients safely from the emergency department to alternative, unscheduled, care providers.