Ethics of Emergency Department Triage: SAEM Position Statement

Emergency department overcrowding, the growth of managed care, and the high cost of emergency care are creating pressures to triage patients away from US. EDs. Paradoxically. this pressure to limit patient access to EDs has increased in spite of federal laws that restrict patient triage and transfer The latter regulations view EDs as the safety net for the US health care system. The SAEM Ethics Committee evaluated the ethical implications of policies that triage patients nut of the ED prior to complete evaluation and treatment. The committee used these implications to develop practical guidelines, which are reported.