ETAT+ (Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment) is a comprehensive and proven intervention developed specifically for implementation in first-level facility-based care in East Africa and Asia, thereby reaching the poorest and most vulnerable children in rural and periurban areas.
ETAT guidelines are designed to deal with common problems in paediatric departments in low resource setting where
- Inpatient mortality is high.
- Many of the patients die within 24 hours of admission
Common problems are e.g. inadequate service, low training level of staff, especially in emergency care, no or few written protocols, delays in initiating care. ETAT guidelines are developed by WHO and are adapted from the Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) guidelines used in western countries. ETAT guidelines are specifically aligned to common problems in the paediatric basic emergency care of in institutions with limited resources. They identify children with immediately life-threatening conditions which are most frequently seen in developing countries, such as obstruction of the airway and other breathing problems caused by infections, shock, severely altered central nervous system function (coma or convulsions), and severe dehydration in a structured and comprehensible manner and present simple yet clear guidelines for their medical care.
These guidelines were developed in Malawi, and were field-tested in several other countries worldwide.
In many places, ETAT is the cornerstone of decision making at first contact with a patient.