Used when medical care process is overloaded and when there are more people who need care

Mysore/Mysuru: It is the time of COVID-19 and because of the volume of patient admissions to an Emergency Department, treatment routines cannot be precisely planned and executed. As such, the available resources at a Hospital may become overwhelmed or patients may crowd a particular area resulting in risks for patient safety.

In view of this, Hospitals come up with Triage System to better manage crowds. One such system – Triage Centre — was inaugurated at the State-run K.R. Hospital last Friday. It provides better patient care where they will be guided to the respective departments. This will avoid huge crowds at the Out Patient Department (OPD).

What is Triage System?

Triage is the prioritisation of patient care (or victims during a disease breakout) based on illness/injury, severity, prognosis and resource availability. The purpose of Triage is to identify patients needing immediate resuscitation, to assign patients to a pre-designated patient care area, thereby prioritising their care and to initiate diagnostic/therapeutic measures as appropriate.

In other words, when used in medicine and healthcare, the term Triage refers to the sorting of injured or sick people according to their need for emergency medical attention. It is a method of determining priority for who gets care first. Triage is used when the medical-care system is overloaded, meaning there are more people who need care than there are available resources to care for them.

Functioning of Triage Centre

The Centre was inaugurated by Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI) Dean and Director Dr. C.P. Nanjaraj. The Triage Centre is located between the OPD Block and the Office of the Medical Superintendent.

Under the system, patients will be segregated based on their need for immediate medical treatment in categories such as ‘immediate category’, ‘urgent category’, ‘delayed category’ and ‘expectant category.’

The first stage on the arrival of the patient at the Triage Centre is assessment by the doctor and nurse. The medical staff will evaluate the patient’s condition and will determine their priority for admission and the patient would be guided to the Department instead of the patient wandering around inside the Hospital looking for the Department.

Facilities for patients

The newly set-up Triage System is also a boon to screen COVID-19 suspects, ILI (Influenza-like Illness) and SARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Illness) patients at K.R. Hospital. The Triage area has facilities such as multiple registration and billing counters, hand sanitiser and thermal screening areas, waiting area with wheelchairs, stretchers and trolleys.

There are social workers to help and guide patients regarding lab facilities, radiology facilities and inpatient wards. Doctors from General Medicine and Community Medicine Department will check the patients. This apart, there is Nursing Station for primary care of patients and 1,050 beds with state-of-the-art laboratory and radiology services.

There will be 24X7 emergency service, casualty, blood bank facility and the hospital is empanelled for Ayushman Bharat, Arogya Raksha scheme. There are dedicated wards for ILI and SARI patients with an ultra-modern Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) in Microbiology Department to test COVID-19 samples. The OPD registration counter is open from 9 am to 4 pm and there is a separate entry and exit point to avoid rush and crowd.

Speaking to ‘Star of Mysore,’ Dr. C.P. Nanjaraj said that the earlier Jayadeva Hospital building at K.R. Hospital has now been converted to collect swab samples from patients suffering from fever and other COVID-19 symptoms.

K.R. Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. Nanjundaswamy, Resident Medical Officer (RMO) Dr. Rajesh, HoD of Surgery Dr. Dinesh, Nursing Superintendent Alkananda, Security Supervisor M. Mahadevu, Assistant Security Supervisor Mahadevaswamy, Jagadish and others were present.