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Ebola Triage Screening and Public Health: The New “Vital Sign Zero”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2014

Kristi L. Koenig
Kristi L. Koenig*
Affiliation:
Center for Disaster Medical Sciences, University of California at Irvine, Orange, California.
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Kristi L. Koenig, MD, Center for Disaster Medical Sciences, Department of Emergency Medicine, UC Irvine Medical Center, 101 The City Drive South, Route 128, Orange, CA 92868 (e-mail: kkoenig@uci.edu).
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Abstract

During public health emergencies of international concern such as the 2014 Ebola event, health care leaders need to educate clinicians on the front lines to make uncomfortable, but real triage decisions that focus on optimization of population health outcomes over individual care. Health care workers must consider their own protection first before direct contact with potentially contagious patients. In an era of globalization and emerging infectious disease, routine triage including evaluation of the standard vital signs must shift to include public health considerations with immediate consequences. A new “vital sign zero” should be taken at the time of initial patient evaluation to assess for risk and exposure to potentially contagious infectious diseases.

Keywords

Ebolatriagepublic healthinfectious disease medicinepublic health emergency
Type
Commentaries
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , February 2015 , pp. 57 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2014 

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References

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