Colour coding emergency triage in the Pacific: a Monash University led pilot study finds added importance in COVID crisis
So far there have been less than a dozen confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea (PNG), however concerns remain that the numbers are greater because of limited testing. A Monash PhD student and emergency medicine physician has adapted a new triage system for 
hospital emergency departments in the Pacific region. The system, which relies on a colour-coding system to streamline triage processes, is currently being trialed in two hospitals in PNG, takes on added significance as the country prepares for a possible COVID 19 crisis.
Dr Rob Mitchell, who is undertaking his PhD under Professor Peter Cameron within the Monash School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, has overseen the implementation of the 
new system at Mount Hagen Provincial Hospital and Gerehu General Hospital. He is working in close partnership with clinicians in Papua New Guinea as well as the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.
The system, recently developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), Medecins Sans Frontieres and the International Committee of the Red Cross, effectively colour-codes patients into categories of urgency: those requiring resuscitation are taken to the red areas; patients with other needs go to either yellow or green areas depending on their requirements. According to Dr Mitchell, “It is a very simple system, but helps ensure that patients get timely and efficient care,” he said. “The triage system will become of even greater importance if, as in other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, COVID becomes a serious problem.”
Dr Mitchell is completing analysis of the 18-month pilot study of the system (called the Integrated Interagency 
Triage Tool), including surveying hospital staff who have received training in the system. Results of the study will be provided to the WHO, and will inform triage implementation in resource-limited settings across the globe.
If the results of Dr Mitchell’s study show that the system has resulted in better care for patients and increased staff satisfaction, 
then the program will be expanded across the Pacific.
The program currently being trialed in PNG builds off a recent triage development project in the Solomon Islands. Data from the National Referral Hospital in Honiara showed a three-tier triage system is valid and effective, and was published last year in Emergency Medicine Australasia.