Emergency Room Triage Rules

The emergency room triage center is a place where patients go for treatment for various levels of medical emergencies. The patients are prioritized by the level of illness. This can include cuts, bruises, minor infections and issues such as labor pains and severe injuries. The triage center has certain rules and procedures to provide effective treatment and safety for the patients. This includes patient care, fair treatment and disease outbreak.

Patient Care

• Every patient has the right to care in the triage unit of a hospital. If a patient enters and he does not have insurance, the triage must explain financial repsonsibility and treat the patient regardless of his ability to pay. The triage unit can not turn a patient away because of certain illnesses. The unit is able to transfer a patient if hospital staff feel they are not equipped to give the patient the care he needs.

Fair Treatment

• In a triage unit of a hospital, the rules vary, but the triage unit typically treats patients in the order of the severity of the illness. For examples, a patient with a broken arm will likely be treated before a patient with a runny nose complaining of aches and pains. Triage units are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of sex, age or religion or show favoritism to a patient because it is the friend or family member of the staff.

Disease Outbreak

• The federal government requires that a triage unit have rules and procedures in place in case of a disease outbreak. Among the rules for an outbreak is that the triage unit must have a plan in place to quarantine contaminated patients. The staff must also have a plan to prevent a massive amount of people from crowding the waiting rooms of the triage unit while waiting for care.