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Table 1 Criteria applied to direct patients to primary triage (used by secretary)

From: Primary triage nurses do not divert patients away from the emergency department at times of high in-hospital bed occupancy - a retrospective cohort study

All the criteria below need to be fulfilled before a patient can be referred to primary triage

 Age >1 and < 70

 Fully awake, without dyspnoea, pallor or sweatiness

 Self-ambulating without problems

 5 or fewer patients waiting for primary triage

Each of the following groups of patients is directly admitted to the ED after registration

 Dyspnoea

 Chest pain

 Abdominal pain

 Patients with known cancer

 Foreign body

 Known atrial fibrillation (where the patient suspects relapse)

 Chronic bowel disease

 Problems related to nasogastric tubes, catheters and plasters

 Scrotal pain

 Urinary obstruction or haematuria

 Revisits (planned and unplanned)