Abstract

Background: The emergency department (ED) is a healthcare environment where patients are treated for various conditions. The triage system is a tool used to prioritize patients based on the urgency associated with their cases. A recognition of the triage system increases satisfaction, whereas long time waiting is associated with poor patient outcomes. There needs to be more literature regarding public awareness outside of the COVID era; thus, we aim to provide data on general population awareness of the triage system used in ED in Saudi Arabia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Saudi Arabia from July 2022 to January 2023. The selection of sampling was made by convenience sampling, and data were obtained from an online questionnaire.
Results: The study included 650 participants. 60% of them were females, and 40% were males. 54.6% of participants know that there is a medical triage system in EDs, which is considered a low percentage, as 45.4% did not know about the triage system in EDs, which would negatively affect patient satisfaction. In addition, 63.4% of study participants did not know that there are urgent care centers that provide treatment outside of EDs, and 47.4% did not know that health centers or urgent care centers can treat most emergency cases.
Conclusion: The general Saudi population is unaware of ED triage systems. There should be an effort to spread awareness of the triage system. In addition, developing further training and education in ED triage to address knowledge deficits and incorrect triage beliefs is critical.

Key words: Triage system, emergency department, life-threatening crises, general population awareness.