Editing Triage (section)

=== Alternative care facilities ===
Alternative care facilities are places that are set up for the care of large numbers of patients, or are places that could be so set up. Examples include schools, sports stadiums, and large camps that can be prepared and used for the care, feeding, and holding of large numbers of victims of a mass casualty or other type of event.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/sars-sras/naylor/8-eng.php|title=Chapter 8: Clinical and Public Health Systems Issues Arising from the Outbreak of Sars in Toronto (Public Health Agency of Canada website)|access-date=2008-12-05|date=2004-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206185742/http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/sars-sras/naylor/8-eng.php|archive-date=2008-12-06|url-status=dead}}</ref>  Such improvised facilities are generally developed in cooperation with the local hospital, which sees them as a strategy for creating surge capacity.  While hospitals remain the preferred destination for all patients, during a mass casualty event such improvised facilities may be required in order to divert low-acuity patients away from hospitals in order to prevent the hospitals becoming overwhelmed.