COURSE DESCRIPTION

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A tool that enables Emergency Departments to:

• Prioritize patient care requirements

• Examine patient care processes, workload, and resource requirements relative to case mix and community need

The triage level assigned using the CTAS criteria is a mandatory data element to be used in all Canadian Hospital Emergency Departments for reporting to the Canadian Institute for Health Information 

The CTAS allows ED nurses and physicians to:

• Triage patients according the type and severity of their presenting signs and symptoms

• Prioritizes patients when emergency department capacity has been exceeded

• Ensure that a patient’s need for care is reassessed while in the Emergency department

The CTAS allows ED managers to:

• Measure the case mix (volume and acuity) of patients who visit the ED

• Determine whether the ED has an operational plan and the resources to meet patient needs

• Assess the ED’s role within the hospital and health care region