Interface to unify the triage system in an emergency medical service

The main goal of triage protocols in medical emergency room is to select and classify patients according to their disease severity, based on clinical data and vital signs. However, at least in Mexico, there is not a unification in this process, causing a subjective classification. In this paper, a basic stage of a prototype capable to assign an unbiased emergency level is presented. The protocol is based on a proposed algorithm that sets the classification thresholds. Through a graphical interface, breathing rate, quantitative value of Glasgow scale. heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature is requested to the medical staff by an electronic sphygmomanometer and an infrared thermometer. The test was done in 8 patients selected without any preset criteria, based on an easy way of samples acquisition and low disease severity. Results show that the prototype was consistent 50% of all evaluated patients, regarding to the triage color assigned by the medical staff. This proves that the system is able to assign a triage level, susceptible to improve its performance from the interaction with medical experts.