[vidarh]

In the UK there is the distinction between 999 (emergency services) and 111 for "urgent but not life threatening". 111 is staffed by nurses trained to triage and will escalate if necessary and get you an ambulance.

Similarly there tends to be walkin clinics if you don't think you can wait for your GP, but don't think it's something you should go to A&E/ER for. Most of them will not be equipped to handle surgery of any kind, but whatever decisions they do as part of triage will certainly be passed on if they believe you need to be sent to hospital.

I think the big difference is that in most European countries the default is to triage everywhere, unless you pay extra to go private, while Americans seem to be more used to triage being somehow mostly restricted to emergencies.

Triage sucks when you have a minor problem and want quick attention without paying extra for private care, but it's quite great when you have an urgent problem and don't have to wait behind people with much less pressing needs.

[pmiller2]

Well, some level of triage takes place anywhere you go in the US. If you're at the doctor's office or urgent care for chest pain, you're probably getting a ride to the ER. But, nobody's going to send you away from anywhere because you come in with a broken arm (assuming they're equipped to handle it) or the sniffles. It's just a matter of how long you will wait and how much you will pay.