Data on 427 consecutive EDOW admissions were collected from 7 June to 4 July 2004. Main outcome measures were death, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and inpatient hospital admission. Scores of > 4 were associated with increased risk of death (OR 54.4, 95% CI = 4.7−633.7), ICU admission (OR 12.7, 95% CI = 1.1−147.3)and hospital admission (OR 9.5, 95% CI = 3.3−27.9).