Table 1.
Article inclusion and exclusion criteria
| Inclusion criteria | Exclusion criteria |
|---|---|
| Prehospital/EMS focused* | In-hospital focus only |
| In-depth description of triage tool included# | Hypothetical triage tool@ |
| Triage tool/process must be a main focus$ | Systematic review/meta-analysis |
| Traditional ground and aeromedical EMS system | Atypical EMS systems |
| Observational studies with n ≥ 50 | Observational study with n < 50 |
| Interventional studies | Triage by EMS dispatch/communications center |
| Mass casualty triage tool | |
| Termination of resuscitation tool | |
| Prehospital clinical algorithm or protocol^ |
*The study had to specifically include patient-level prehospital data
#The triage tool must be fully described within the article or through a provided reference. The tool should help the provider arrive at a specific, often binary, triage decision (e.g., Transport patient to trauma center or not; label patient as low or high acuity)
$Assessment of triage outcomes or process must be a stated primary or secondary objective of the study
@The triage tool is not actively used in prehospital clinical practice, is used for research purposes only, or is in development
^Excludes EMS agency prehospital algorithms or protocols used for clinical management en route (e.g., “asthma protocol”) or those that rely on a single diagnostic tool such as a fingerstick glucose or EKG to make a triage decision (e.g., “chest pain protocol”)