Emergency Medicine · Paediatrics

PEDOCS calculator

Enter the published formula inputs below to calculate and interpret this score.

Clinical inputs

Patients in the waiting room

patients

Allowed range: 0–200 patients

Waiting-room count in the parenthesized equation. The 200 patient entry limit is not a printed cap.

Total registered patients

patients

Allowed range: 0–400 patients

Total registered patients in the parenthesized equation. The 400 patient entry limit is not a printed cap. Registered patients do not have to exceed the waiting-room count.

Result

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Primary source

Weiss SJ et al. Development of a novel measure of overcrowding in a pediatric emergency department. Pediatr Emerg Care. PMID: 17876254. The Pediatr Emerg Care PDF was not in an open file. Abudan and Merchant, Glob Pediatr Health 2021, PMC7923972, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7923972/, reprint the Weiss 0 to 200 scale: 0 not busy, 40 busy, 80 extremely busy but not overcrowded, 120 overcrowded, 160 severely overcrowded, and 200 dangerously overcrowded. Those anchors match the linear conversion Weiss printed for the same 6-point scale in 2004. That review prints PEDOCS = 33.3 * 0.11 + 0.07*(waiting room) + 0.04*(total registered), which cannot reach the 0 to 200 scale. Timm NL et al. J Emerg Nurs. 2025. PMID: 41037038. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41037038/ prints the parenthesized equation adapted from Weiss: PEDOCS = 33.3 × (0.11 + 0.07 × waiting-room patients + 0.04 × total registered patients). That is the equation used here. Timm's later 7-level record bands and the bed-capacity correction are not used. The busy anchor follows the unrounded score: under 40 stays below busy, and 40 and above is busy. Three waiting-room patients and 22 registered patients are 33.3 × (0.11 + 0.07 × 3 + 0.04 × 22) = 39.96 and stay not busy even when the displayed tenth is 40.0. Two waiting-room patients and 24 registered patients are 40.3 and are busy. A waiting room of 10 patients and 55 registered patients is 100.2. A waiting room of 37 patients and 82 registered patients is 199.1. Entry limits of 200 and 400 patients are not printed caps. The empty census is 3.7, so the scale anchor of 0 is the lower edge of the first band. (2007)

Scope: Pediatric emergency departments when overcrowding is scored from waiting-room patients and total registered patients with the parenthesized equation that reaches the printed 0 to 200 scale.

Last reviewed 2026-10-17

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Professional use only

For qualified clinicians. Independently verify inputs, calculations, source guidance, and applicability before any clinical action. This calculator does not replace clinical judgment.

Source: Weiss SJ et al. Development of a novel measure of overcrowding in a pediatric emergency department. Pediatr Emerg Care. PMID: 17876254. The Pediatr Emerg Care PDF was not in an open file. Abudan and Merchant, Glob Pediatr Health 2021, PMC7923972, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7923972/, reprint the Weiss 0 to 200 scale: 0 not busy, 40 busy, 80 extremely busy but not overcrowded, 120 overcrowded, 160 severely overcrowded, and 200 dangerously overcrowded. Those anchors match the linear conversion Weiss printed for the same 6-point scale in 2004. That review prints PEDOCS = 33.3 * 0.11 + 0.07*(waiting room) + 0.04*(total registered), which cannot reach the 0 to 200 scale. Timm NL et al. J Emerg Nurs. 2025. PMID: 41037038. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41037038/ prints the parenthesized equation adapted from Weiss: PEDOCS = 33.3 × (0.11 + 0.07 × waiting-room patients + 0.04 × total registered patients). That is the equation used here. Timm's later 7-level record bands and the bed-capacity correction are not used. The busy anchor follows the unrounded score: under 40 stays below busy, and 40 and above is busy. Three waiting-room patients and 22 registered patients are 33.3 × (0.11 + 0.07 × 3 + 0.04 × 22) = 39.96 and stay not busy even when the displayed tenth is 40.0. Two waiting-room patients and 24 registered patients are 40.3 and are busy. A waiting room of 10 patients and 55 registered patients is 100.2. A waiting room of 37 patients and 82 registered patients is 199.1. Entry limits of 200 and 400 patients are not printed caps. The empty census is 3.7, so the scale anchor of 0 is the lower edge of the first band. (2007)

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Clinical inputs

Patients in the waiting roomAccepted range: 0 to 200
Total registered patientsAccepted range: 0 to 400

Primary source

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