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Volunteers attach this bright red screening tool to the top of the patient's chart packet before the patient is triaged. Originally, it was going to be handed to patients while they were waiting to be triaged in, but it was yet another task for triage nurses who were too busy to do it in addition to their other responsibilities. It was intended for all ambulatory patients, but it soon became apparent that patients arriving by ambulance also needed to be screened, and so they have been distributed to the local EMS who we encourage to screen, in the field. Hospital administration has adopted this tool in other areas of the hospital, to capture other patients not coming in through the emergency department.
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The hospital infection control specialist developed this tool to screen all patients presenting to the emergency department (Figure 1).Basic questions include recent travel history, contact with any person suspected of having SARS, and any fever or respiratory symptoms.