- Title
- The impact of COVID-19 on the service of emergency department
- Creator
- Alharthi, Shaia; Al-Moteri, Modi; Plummer, Virginia; Thobiaty, Abdulellah
- Date
- 2021
- Type
- Text; Journal article
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/180323
- Identifier
- vital:15719
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9101295
- Identifier
- ISBN:2227-9032 (ISSN)
- Abstract
- (1) Introduction: the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the number and acuity of emergency departments (ED) patients, specifically those with non-COVID-19-related health problems. However, the exact impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ED services is the subject of comprehensive debate. (2) Aim: to gain insight into the consequences of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic based on non-COVID-19 presentations and patient acuity using the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS). (3) Method: in Phase 1, the ED records of one of the main regional non-COVID-19 hospitals in Saudi Arabia were retrospectively audited from August 2020 to February 2021—after the first wave of COVID-19—then compared to information collected for the same period in previous year. Phase 2 included calculating the waiting time to identify delays and issues that may impact the triage effectiveness. (4) Results: a change across all CTAS levels was observed post the 1st wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, there was an increase in the number of patients presenting as higher acuity (CTAS 1 and 2) and a decrease in patients presenting as lower acuity (CTAS 4 and 5). Longer waiting times for patients presenting to ED were also reported. Specifically, 83% of patients presenting as higher acuity experienced a delay. (5) Conclusion: further studies are required to investigate association between the 1st wave of COVID-19 and patient presentations and/or acuity or patient demand and ED capacity. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
- Publisher
- MDPI
- Relation
- Healthcare (Switzerland) Vol. 9, no. 10 (2021), p.
- Rights
- All metadata describing materials held in, or linked to, the repository is freely available under a CC0 licence
- Rights
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
- Rights
- Copyright: © 2021 by the authors
- Rights
- Open Access
- Subject
- 1117 Public Health and Health Services; COVID-19; Emergency department; Triaging
- Full Text
- Reviewed
- Hits: 1075
- Visitors: 1118
- Downloads: 89
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Published version | 317 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |