Triage in the OPD prioritizes patients based on the urgency of their conditions, ensuring critically ill patients receive immediate care while non-urgent cases wait longer. This system reduces overcrowding by managing patient flow efficiently, which lowers the risk of cross-infection in a busy clinical environment. By streamlining patient assessment, triage also enhances staff safety by preventing exposure to potentially infectious or unstable cases without proper preparation. Overall, triage optimizes resource allocation and safeguards both patients and healthcare workers from preventable harm.

Reference: Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine, Haslett, Edition 23.