"In medicine, triage is a process by which care providers such as medical professionals and those with first aid knowledge determine the order of priority for providing treatment to injured individuals and/or inform the rationing of limited supplies so that they go to those who can most benefit from it."
The process of prioritizing patients based on the severity of their condition. This is often done in emergency situations to ensure that patients with the most urgent needs are treated first.
Introduction to Triage: An overview that covers the purpose and importance of triage in emergency medicine.
Patient assessment: Basic understanding of patient assessment techniques, history taking, and medical documentation.
Triage principles: Understanding how the triage system works and the various categories of triage patients.
Primary survey and resuscitation: Basic knowledge of ABCDE (Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure) assessment with early goal-directed therapy and advanced cardiac life support.
Trauma triage: Skills to identify and prioritize injuries based on severity including use of critical care and trauma bays.
Pediatric triage: Understanding of specific procedures regarding pediatric acuity, differential diagnosis, and age-specific interventions.
Psychological triage: Introductory knowledge of psychological evaluation, patient's mental health status, and appropriate interventions.
Disaster triage: Understanding of disaster triage concepts (START, JumpSTART algorithm) and response to mass casualty events.
Special populations: Knowledge of specific triage considerations for pregnant women, geriatric patients, and patients with disabilities.
Legal and ethical issues: An understanding of the legal and ethical considerations involved in triage decision-making.
Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START): A basic triage system used in mass casualty incidents to quickly identify the severity of injuries and prioritize treatment.
Advanced Triage: A more complex triage system used in hospitals to prioritize patients based on their medical conditions and urgency of treatment needed.
Early Warning Score (EWS): A scoring system based on vital signs and other factors to identify patients at risk of deterioration and prioritize their treatment.
Pediatric Triage: A system used specifically for children to identify problems related to breathing, circulation, and mental status and prioritize their treatment.
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) Triage: A specialized triage system used in situations involving exposure to hazardous materials or weapons of mass destruction.
Military Triage: A modified triage system used to prioritize treatment in combat situations, focusing on the ability of the patient to return to duty.
Obstetrical Triage: A system used in labor and delivery units to prioritize the care of pregnant women based on the severity of their symptoms and pregnancy complications.
Mental Health Triage: A system used to triage individuals who present to emergency departments with mental health and substance abuse issues, to prioritize and facilitate appropriate treatment.
Trauma Triage: A system used to identify and prioritize patients with severe trauma injuries for appropriate care and transport to specialized trauma centers.
Disaster Triage: A system used in response to large-scale disasters, natural or human-made, to quickly evaluate the needs of the affected population and provide appropriate medical care.
"Triage is usually relied upon when there are more injured individuals than available care providers (known as a mass casualty incident), or when there are more injured individuals than supplies to treat them."
"Triage systems vary dramatically based on a variety of factors, and can follow specific, measurable metrics, like trauma scoring systems, or can be based on the medical opinion of the provider."
"The triage process places the most injured and most able to be helped as the first priority, with the most terminally injured the last priority (except in the case of reverse triage)."
"Triage is an imperfect practice, and can be largely subjective, especially when based on general opinion rather than a score."
"Because triage needs to balance multiple and sometimes contradictory objectives simultaneously, most of them being fundamental to personhood: likelihood of death, efficacy of treatment, patients' remaining lifespan, ethics, and religion."
"inform the rationing of limited supplies so that they go to those who can most benefit from it."
"Triage systems vary dramatically based on a variety of factors..."
"The triage process places the most injured and most able to be helped as the first priority..."
"...or can be based on the medical opinion of the provider."
"...can follow specific, measurable metrics, like trauma scoring systems..."
"...with the most terminally injured the last priority."
"Triage is an imperfect practice, and can be largely subjective..."
"(except in the case of reverse triage)."
"...needs to balance multiple and sometimes contradictory objectives simultaneously..."
"...most of them being fundamental to personhood: likelihood of death, efficacy of treatment, patients' remaining lifespan, ethics, and religion."
"determine the order of priority for providing treatment..."
"...when there are more injured individuals than available care providers."
"Triage is usually relied upon when there are more injured individuals than available care providers...or when there are more injured individuals than supplies to treat them."
"determine the order of priority for providing treatment to injured individuals and/or inform the rationing of limited supplies so that they go to those who can most benefit from it."