REMS Triage Method Breakthrough
In emergency medicine, everything is fast-paced. Responders must make pressured decisions in order to provide the best possibility of a positive outcome for the most patients. These decisions determine how serious a patient’s illness is and what kind of care they will receive, as well as how likely the patients are to die. This decision-making process is called triage and it works by a standardized formula. This formula is then tweaked to better predict patient outcomes.
A system of triage that has been recently developed is called Rapid Emergency Medicine Scores or REMS. This system is used to predict patient outcomes in the Emergency Department for patients who will not be having surgery and is found to be very accurate.
Before the REMS triage system was created, Rapid Acute Physiological Scale (RAPS) was the most commonly used triage system. RAPS includes bodily functions such as pulse, breaths per minute, and blood pressure, as well as the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) which determines brain function quickly and accurately. These measurements provide an accurate indicator of a patient’s current health status. In addition to all these factors, a new scale, REMS, adds factors such as age and pulse oximetry, both of which have proven to increase the accuracy of predictions.
A system of triage that has been recently developed is called Rapid Emergency Medicine Scores or REMS. This system is used to predict patient outcomes in the Emergency Department for patients who will not be having surgery and is found to be very accurate.
Before the REMS triage system was created, Rapid Acute Physiological Scale (RAPS) was the most commonly used triage system. RAPS includes bodily functions such as pulse, breaths per minute, and blood pressure, as well as the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) which determines brain function quickly and accurately. These measurements provide an accurate indicator of a patient’s current health status. In addition to all these factors, a new scale, REMS, adds factors such as age and pulse oximetry, both of which have proven to increase the accuracy of predictions.
More effective methods of triage can use resources wisely to save more lives.
Image Source: fernandozhiminaicela
To prove that REMS is a more accurate system of triage, researchers analyzed lots of data, studying the predictive power of the REMS triage system in different spots of the hospital. In some situations, triage predicted patient outcomes poorly, in others, the prediction was more accurate. For example, in the case of a heart attack, this system did not work well in predicting whether or not a patient would die in the short term (3–7 days). However, in another study, the REMS method predicted with 100% accuracy that patients would need mechanical ventilation. After the analysis of all this research, the scientists writing this article determined REMS is most effectively used in the Emergency Room for non-surgical patients.
In the case of Emergency Medicine, there can be situations with an overwhelming number of patients without the necessary resources to serve all of them. If a hospital dedicates all of its resources to a patient who will likely die regardless, there are many other patients who could have been treated but will suffer without those resources. New methods of triage will use a systemized formula to decide the most efficient divvying up of resources so that medical professionals can save the most people. It is vital for both society and patients that these systems of triage are not only accurate but also unbiased on factors such as race and socio-economic status.
Through triage systems like these, medical professionals can devote the most resources to save the most lives in an unbiased manner. Continued advancements in triage methods can help to resolve health disparities across communities.
In the case of Emergency Medicine, there can be situations with an overwhelming number of patients without the necessary resources to serve all of them. If a hospital dedicates all of its resources to a patient who will likely die regardless, there are many other patients who could have been treated but will suffer without those resources. New methods of triage will use a systemized formula to decide the most efficient divvying up of resources so that medical professionals can save the most people. It is vital for both society and patients that these systems of triage are not only accurate but also unbiased on factors such as race and socio-economic status.
Through triage systems like these, medical professionals can devote the most resources to save the most lives in an unbiased manner. Continued advancements in triage methods can help to resolve health disparities across communities.
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