We studied data from 230,000 telephone calls from our nurse triage call center from January-
October 2020. Nurses ensured that all callers received standardized, high-quality care by using
guided symptom-based protocols written by Doctors Schmitt and Thompson. During each call
we collected information about the patient’s demographics, the triage protocol used by the nurse,
and the patient’s disposition. Patients were also asked whether or not they were planning to go to
the emergency room (ER) prior to calling a nurse. In this article we focus on the callers that
ended up in the ER and their demographics.