• D M Lyle, P C Thomson, L A Coulon, G Berry, and C M Kim.
• Department of Public Health, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
• Aust N Z J Surg. 1990 Dec 1; 60 (12): 953-8.

AbstractA pilot study of the effectiveness of prehospital triage of trauma patients was carried out in a western Sydney between February and July 1988. Triage guidelines were developed to identify seriously injured persons at the incident site who might warrant admission to a Level 3 Trauma Service Hospital (Trauma Centre), as part of the NSW Department of Health trauma services plan. The study results were based on 64% of ambulance trauma transports for which a triage decision was provided. Of trauma transports studied, 3.7% had injuries serious enough to warrant admission to Level 3 Trauma Service Hospital. Ambulance officers correctly triaged 77% of these cases in the field. However, 62% of trauma transports triaged 'severe' or 'critical' did not have injuries serious enough to warrant admission to a Level 3 Trauma Service Hospital. Nevertheless, the triage guidelines compared favourably with similar instruments used elsewhere. Based on the performance of the triage guidelines it was concluded that the introduction of a regionalized trauma service in metropolitan NSW with local bypass is possible.

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