Scores and scales used in emergency medicine. Practicability in toxicology

Medical scores, criteria and classification systems support clinical decision-making and management. They enable the clinician to predict the outcome, stratify risk, assess conditions and diagnose diseases accurately. In the emergency medicine, it is very important to ascertain safety criteria to discharge patients, time to remain in the E.R., and also ascertain the time intervals for discharge/admission. The use of the scores in the emergency medicine, toxicology and other areas of intensive medicine have become increasingly efficient. Creating a prognostic score for the acute intoxications to be used by the personnel from the Emergency Departments may have positive effects in the management of the poisoned patients (e.g. the admission in a certain treatment space: cases expected to have a trend towards worsening will be directed to the resuscitation space and after a short period of time admitted in the appropriate facility; this way, the bed occupancy time in the Emergency Department will be shortened).