[Management of overcrowding in the Emergency Department of University Hospital Gabriel Touré, Bamako in Mali].

Introduction: Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding is a major healthcare issue. The purpose of this study is to determine the causes of emergency department overcrowding and to evaluate intra-hospital transfer after initial treatment.

Methods: we conducted a 1-year prospective study at the Emergency Reception Service of the Gabriel Touré University Hospital. All patients admitted to the Emergency Reception Service and belonging to classes 3, 4, 5 of the Clinical Classification of Emergency patients (CCEP) and whose length of stay in the department was greater than or equal to 24 hours were included in the study. Patients consulting the Emergency Department and classified as CCMU classes 1, 2, patients without a well-established medical record and patients who died before treatment were excluded by the study.

Results: we recorded 19.571 calls to the emergency service, including massive influxes (a remarkable 44 times, 570 patients). Bed occupancy rate was 108.03% in our department; at the same time, the average bed occupancy in the Hospital was 56%. According to the CCEP classification, 83.75% of patients were CCEP3. Patients with neurological disorders were 557. Patients with a trauma accounted for 56.7%, compared with 49.2% of medical disorders encountered.

Conclusion: the average length of stay was 63.59 hours, with a maximum length of 45 days. More than a quarter of the reasons for delayed intra-hospital transfers were due to the need for specific surveillance or specific treatments that were not feasible in conventional hospitalization.