Paediatric triage in South Africa

Reducing child mortality is a high priority in sub-Saharan Africa, and swift, appropriate triage can make an important contribution to this goal. There has been a lot of interest and work in the field of triage of sick children in South Africa over the past few years. Despite this, in many parts of South Africa no formal system for triage of children in acute and emergency settings is used. This article aims to explain some of the key paediatric triage tools being considered and developed in South Africa. The triage tools discussed are the World Health Organization Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment (ETAT), the South African adaptation of this tool known as ETAT-SA, the South African Triage Scale (SATS), and the Revised Paediatric SATS (P-SATS). The article describes how they were developed and their relevance to the country.