Inter-rater and intrarater reliability of the South African Triage Scale in low-resource settings of Haiti and Afghanistan.

Objective: The South African Triage Scale (SATS) has demonstrated good validity in the EDs of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported sites in Afghanistan and Haiti; however, corresponding reliability in these settings has not yet been reported on. This study set out to assess the inter-rater and intrarater reliability of the SATS in four MSF-supported EDs in Afghanistan and Haiti (two trauma-only EDs and two mixed (including both medical and trauma cases) EDs).

Methods: Under classroom conditions between December 2013 and February 2014, ED nurses at each site assigned triage ratings to a set of context-specific vignettes (written case reports of ED patients).

Is the South African Triage Scale valid for use in Afghanistan, Haiti and Sierra Leone?

Objective: To assess the validity of the South African Triage Scale (SATS) in four Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported emergency departments (ED, two trauma-only sites, one mixed site (both medical and trauma cases) and one paediatric-only site) in Afghanistan, Haiti and Sierra Leone.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted between June 2013 and June 2014. Validity was assessed by comparing patients' SATS ratings with their final ED outcome (ie, hospital admission, death or discharge).

Integrating mHealth at point of care in low- and middle-income settings: the system perspective.

While the field represents a wide spectrum of products and services, many aspects of mHealth have great promise within resource-poor settings: there is an extensive range of cheap, widely available tools which can be used at the point of care delivery. However, there are a number of conditions which need to be met if such solutions are to be adequately integrated into existing health systems; we consider these from regulatory, technological and user perspectives. We explore the need for an appropriate legislative and regulatory framework, to avoid 'work around' solutions, which threaten patient confidentiality (such as the extensive use of instant messaging services to deliver sensitive clinical information and seek diagnostic and management advice).

Prioritising the care of critically ill children: a pilot study using SCREEN reduces clinic waiting times.

Objective: In low-resource settings, childhood mortality secondary to delays in triage and treatment remains high. This paper seeks to evaluate the impact of the novel Sick Children Require Emergency Evaluation Now (SCREEN) tool on the waiting times of critically ill children who present for care to primary healthcare clinics in Cape Town, South Africa.

Methods: We used a pre/postevaluation study design to calculate the median waiting times of all children who presented to four randomly chosen clinics for 5 days before, and 5 days after, the implementation of SCREEN.

Triage capabilities of medical trainees in Ghana using the South African triage scale: an opportunity to improve emergency care.

Introduction: The incidence of emergency conditions is increasing worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, triage and emergency care training has not been prioritized in LMICs. We aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the South African Triage Scale (SATS) when used by providers not specifically trained in SATS, as well as to compare triage capabilities between senior medical students and senior house officers to examine the effectiveness of our curriculum for house officer training with regards to triage.