Inter-observer agreement using the Canadian Emergency Department Triage and Acuity Scale.

Objective: To determine the inter-observer agreement on triage assignment by first-time users with diverse training and background using the Canadian Emergency Department Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS).

Methods: Twenty emergency care providers (5 physicians, 5 nurses, 5 Basic Life Support paramedics and 5 Advanced Life Support paramedics) at a large urban teaching hospital participated in the study. Observers used the 5-level CTAS to independently assign triage levels for 42 case scenarios abstracted from actual emergency department patient presentations.

Economic evaluation of the benefits of reducing acute cardiorespiratory morbidity associated with air pollution.

Background: Few assessments of the costs and benefits of reducing acute cardiorespiratory morbidity related to air pollution have employed a comprehensive, explicit approach to capturing the full societal value of reduced morbidity.

Methods: We used empirical data on the duration and severity of episodes of cardiorespiratory disease as inputs to complementary models of cost of treatment, lost productivity, and willingness to pay to avoid acute cardiorespiratory morbidity outcomes linked to air pollution in epidemiological studies. A Monte Carlo estimation procedure was utilized to propagate uncertainty in key inputs and model parameters.