Implementation of Triage During the Covid Pandemic at Shalamar Hospital Lahore, Pakistan

Objective: To measure the extent of triage policies being implemented by the selected hospital staff for sorting the patients at the first point of reporting. Methodology: It is a descriptive cross-sectional study, it will be conducted online in the form of a questionnaire which will be circulated by using different networking sites i.e. Gmail and Whatsapp to healthcare workers of Shalamar Hospital working in the ER department. Data will be collected from Medical Officers, House Officers and from Post Graduate Residents of Shalamar Hospital Lahore. All other medical staff who are not directly related to the sorting of triage in COVID patients i.e. nurses, paramedics, senior consultants, general practitioners, doctors of other specialities are not included in the study. The questions will be focused on the implementation and problems faced during implementation of triage during the pandemic. The data will be kept in password protected computers of investigators only. The official statistician of SMDC will be requested to analyze the data. The data will be entered and analyzed on SPSS v.19. Statistical analysis: We haveused IBM spss 21 for data analysis. Descriptive statistics were carried out on data with mean +/- SD and frequency trends noted. Frequency trends were noted for various variables relating to triage implementation e.g. triage implementation and reduction of burden on scarce sources. Percentage was calculated for responses by HCWs to our questionnaire. Associations were measured by chi square test which yielded P value. Results: Mean age of healthcare workers was 22.41. Demographically 49% males and 51% females. 18% MOs and 31% PGRs were involved. Doctors who agreed to the question that triage was helpful were 96%, increased surge capacity has helped implementation of triage were 71%, telephonic triage was helpful in reducing nosocomial spread of disease were 81%, doctors agreed on treating patients on survival probability if resources are running out were 77% and 63% doctors agreed on this that Shalamar Hospital is following WHO provided criteria of triage. Conclusion: This study has evaluated the protocols and implementation of triage during COVID-19 pandemic in Shalamar Medical Hospital. It has also assessed telephonic based screening and triage services in the health care system with regard to COVID-19 pandemic. Effective and intensive screening by the history of contact risk, symptoms and careful use of hospital resources based on patient’s survival probability are significant strategies in preventing transmission of disease and saving lives of patients. Telephone based medical services have the potential to greatly improve triage efficiency and prevent unnecessary visits to the hospital.