Nurse Triage Line

In the Spotlight

The Nurse Triage Line (NTL) Project is a collaborative effort between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).

The purpose of the NTL Project is to improve access to antiviral medications to ill persons during an influenza pandemic and at the same time, lessen the burden on healthcare resources. To meet this purpose, the NTL Project is exploring the acceptability and feasibility of using nurse triage lines to assess the health status of callers, disseminate information, provide clinical advice, and make access to antiviral medications available, if appropriate. As part of this effort, the integration of poison control centers, nurse advice lines, 2-1-1 information lines, and other hotlines are being explored.

The NTL Project is also investigating how nurse triage lines can meet the needs of uninsured/underinsured individuals for access to antiviral drugs during an influenza pandemic. The CDC, ASTHO, and NACCHO have assessed how nurse triage lines were used during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and are incorporating the lessons learned from those experiences into the NTL Project.
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NTL Project Stakeholders Meeting—March 20, 2012

NTL Project Stakeholders Meeting

The NTL Project hosted a meeting in Atlanta on March 20, 2012 to develop a roadmap for planning, developing, and operating coordinated nurse triage lines during an influenza pandemic. Key stakeholders were engaged at the meeting to synthesize findings about the acceptability and feasibility of a new coordinated system of nurse triage telephone lines for use during an influenza pandemic and to identify challenges, barriers, and solutions for next steps.

Click here to view presentations from the meeting.

Post-meeting activities currently are in process with a focus on implementing a coordinated nurse triage line system in the future.

New Report

New Report on the Role of Flu Information and Triage Line

ASTHO and NACCHO looked back to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic to identify public-health affiliated poison control centers, Nurse Triage Lines (NTLs), and other flu lines that were staffed by nurses or other medical professionals to provide information and advice to callers, triage those who were ill, and prescribe antiviral medications over the phone. Click "more" to read the report, released in April 2012. More »