SAQ 246 – Administration – chest-pain triage and ambulance offload

Review Completed

Marked out of 12.00

You are the duty consultant beginning a late shift in a full tertiary emergency department. No monitored or general cubicles are available, the waiting room is full, and staff are managing several high-acuity cases. Three ambulance patients await triage in the corridor; one appears in severe pain and two appear short of breath.

List three (3) advantages of assigning Australasian Triage Scale category 2 to every adult presenting with chest pain.

(Marked out of 3.0)

/ 3

List three (3) disadvantages of this practice.

(Marked out of 3.0)

/ 3

State three (3) options for caring for the ambulance patients. For each option, provide one (1) advantage or disadvantage and identify which it is.

(Marked out of 6.0)

Option for care	One pro or con (identify which)
1.
2.
3.

/ 6

Total Score: 0 / 12

Percentage: 0%

Option	Example advantage or disadvantage
Defer ED intervention until cubicles are available.	Disadvantage: delays emergency treatment and keeps ambulances unavailable.
Begin nursing triage and registration on ambulance trolleys.	Advantage: permits risk assessment, prioritisation, analgesia, and early investigations.
Provide medical triage and treatment on ambulance trolleys.	Advantage: may improve downstream processing; disadvantage: consumes medical resources and may delay handover.
Clear a cubicle for rapid assessment.	Advantage: permits private, detailed assessment; disadvantage: consumes a scarce cubicle.
Clear three cubicles for normal offload.	Advantage: provides ideal care; disadvantage: may be infeasible and displace other patients.

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