[Timmins], ON – Timmins and District Hospital is enthusiastic to introduce a new Electronic Canadian Acuity Scale that went live on November 20, 2018 in the Emergency Department.

The priority for emergency departments is the ability to triage patients and identify those who require immediate medical attention. Keeping in line with TADH’s vision of providing exemplary care to Northerners the eCTAS (Electronic Canadian Acuity Scale) will improve that process and has replaced our previous manual CTAS system.

This innovative electronic triage decision support system was designed by Emergency Department experts to standardize the application of CTAS guidelines in Emergency Departments across the province.  eCTAS is expected to improve patient safety and quality of care by ensuring the patient is assigned an accurate triage score.  With the implementation of eCTAS a triage nurse’s knowledge, skills and clinical experience are strengthened by the decision support tools embedded in the electronic system. It will accurately determine CTAS score based on objective data points which are captured during the triage process. “eCTAS will hopefully improve patient care which is always the goal. It will facilitate standardization of the triage process by improving accuracy which should lead to better patient outcomes” said Dr. John Chisholm, Medical Director of the Emergency Department and ER Physician, Timmins and District Hospital.

What are members of the community to expect with this new process?

1. Upon entering the Emergency Department you will be asked to take a number. Once your number is called you will present to the reception desk where you will be asked to provide your health card, reason for your visit and some infection control questions.
2. You will be redirected back to the waiting area, a triage nurse will call your name and you will present to the triage desk where the nurse will take a history of your complaint and assess your condition.  You will then be sent back to the waiting area to wait being called into the department. 

How can the members of the community assist us in the new process? 

1. Bring your OHIP card.
2. Ensure you bring a list of your recent medication that you take or bottles including all prescription, non-prescription and herbal remedies.
3. Provide a list of your allergies.
4. If you present with cough or fever please ensure you put a mask on when entering the department.
5. Please ensure that we have your correct telephone number in the system in case we need to call you with positive test results that may require treatment.

We expect during the early implementation stage there will be a learning curve and as a result we may initially expect triage to take a little longer; however, as staff becomes more familiar with the system this will be rectified. “Case studies and in class teachings have been provided to every ER nurse on the new eCTAS process. 8 super users have been created to assist, extra resources have been put in place for the first two live weeks, and an IT staff person touches base every morning with staff to address any issues or concerns”, said Kim Bazinet, Manager of ER/ICU, Timmins and District Hospital.

The Timmins and District Hospital (TADH) is a level C, fully accredited community, referral and teaching hospital serving the residents of the City of Timmins and Cochrane District as well as the adjoining areas of the Temiskaming, Sudbury and Algoma districts. The hospital offers a full range of medical, surgical, critical care, maternity, newborn, pediatric, mental health and diagnostic imaging services.

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For more information please contact:
Quinn Thomson
Timmins and District Hospital
705-267-6331
qthomson@tadh.com