PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - G Arendts AU - S Elgafi TI - Announcing the emergent patient in the emergency department: a randomised trial AID - 10.1136/emj.2005.026831 DP - 2006 May 01 TA - Emergency Medicine Journal PG - 388--390 VI - 23 IP - 5 4099 - http://emj.bmj.com/content/23/5/388.short 4100 - http://emj.bmj.com/content/23/5/388.full SO - Emerg Med J2006 May 01; 23 AB - Objective: To determine which of three commonly used methods for notifying medical staff of the arrival of an emergent case to the triage area of an emergency department (ED) is optimal. Methods: Prospective, randomised trial. Patients arriving with conditions rated as emergencies (triage category 2) were randomised to one of three notification arms: by microphone, by telephone, or by computer. The proportion of patients seen by a doctor within 10 minutes of arrival to the ED in each arm was compared. Results: A total of 1000 patients were enrolled. The proportion seen within 10 minutes for patients announced by microphone was significantly greater than those announced by telephone or computer (67.0% v 63.2% v 57.3%, respectively; Ļ‡2 6.30, pā€Š=ā€Š0.04). No method achieved the benchmark proportion of 80% of patients seen within 10 minutes of arrival. Conclusions: A microphone announcement heard by overhead speakers should be incorporated with other strategies to improve the timeliness of medical assessment of emergent cases.