Editing Triage (section)

=== Simple triage ===
Simple triage is usually used in a scene of an accident or "[[mass-casualty incident]]" (MCI), in order to sort patients into those who need critical attention and immediate transport to a secondary or tertiary care facility to survive, those who require low-intensity care to survive, those who are uninjured, and those who are deceased or will be so imminently.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Hanfling D, Lang CR | chapter = Chapter 166 - Aircraft Crash Preparedness and Response |date=2006-01-01| title = Disaster Medicine |pages=829–833 | veditors = Ciottone GR, Anderson PD, Der Heide EA, Darling RG  |place=Philadelphia |publisher=Mosby |language=en |isbn=978-0-323-03253-7 }}</ref> In the United States, this most commonly takes the form of the [[Simple triage and rapid treatment|START]] triage model, in Canada, the CTAS model, and in Australia the ATS model.<ref name="Yancey_2023">{{cite book | vauthors = Yancey CC, O'Rourke M | chapter = Emergency Department Triage |date=2023 | chapter-url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557583/ | title = StatPearls |access-date=2023-05-06 |place=Treasure Island (FL) |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |pmid=32491515 }}</ref> Assessment often begins with asking anyone who can walk to walk to a designated area, labeling them the lowest priority, and assessing other patients from there.<ref name="Yancey_2023" /> Upon completion of the initial assessment by the care provider, which is based on the so-called [[ABC (medicine)|ABCDE approach]],<ref name="World Health Organization_2008" /><ref name="Thim_2012">{{cite journal | vauthors = Thim T, Krarup NH, Grove EL, Rohde CV, Løfgren B | title = Initial assessment and treatment with the Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure (ABCDE) approach | journal = International Journal of General Medicine | volume = 5 | pages = 117–121 | date = January 2012 | pmid = 22319249 | pmc = 3273374 | doi = 10.2147/IJGM.S28478 | doi-access = free }}</ref> patients are generally labelled with their available information, including "patient’s name, gender, injuries, interventions, care-provider IDs, casualty triage score, and an easily visible overall triage category".<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Foley E, Reisner AT | chapter = Chapter 54 - Triage | veditors = Ciottone GR |title=Ciottone's Disaster Medicine | year = 2016 | doi = 10.1016/B978-0-323-28665-7.00054-6 |publisher = Elsevier Inc. |language=en | isbn = 978-0-323-28665-7 | pages = 339–340 }}</ref>

==== ABCDE Assessment ====
{{Main|ABC (medicine)}}

An ABCDE assessment (other variations include ABC,<ref>{{Cite web | vauthors = Schimelpfenig T |title=ABCs of Wilderness Medicine: The Initial Assessment |url=http://blog.nols.edu/2019/07/30/wilderness-medicine-abcs |access-date=2023-05-12 | location = Lander, WY | publisher = National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS ) | work = blog.nols.edu |language=en-us}}</ref> ABCD,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Livingston EH, Passaro EP | title = Resuscitation. Revival should be the first priority | journal = Postgraduate Medicine | volume = 89 | issue = 1 | pages = 117–20, 122 | date = January 1991 | pmid = 1985304 | doi = 10.1080/00325481.1991.11700789 }}</ref> ABCDEF,<ref>{{Cite book |title=UK Ambulance Services Clinical Practice Guidelines 2013 |publisher=[[National Health Service]] |year=2013 |isbn=9781859593639}}</ref> and many others, including those localized to non-English) is rapid patient assessment designed to check bodily function in order of importance.<ref name="Thim_2012" />
{| class="wikitable"
|+ABCDE Assessment Example<ref name="Thim_2012" />
!Letter
!Term
!Meaning
|-
|A
|Airway
|Checking for airway obstruction
|-
|B
|Breathing
|Checking if the patient is breathing and if the breathing is normal
|-
|C
|Circulation
|Checking to see if the heart rate and capillary refill time is normal
|-
|D
|Disability
|Checking the patient’s alertness, awareness, and response to painful stimuli
|-
|E
|Exposure
|Checking the patient for trauma, bleeding, temperature, and other skin signs
|}

==== Tags ====
{{Main|Triage tag}}
[[File:Triage 041105 big.jpg|thumb|Many triage systems use triage tags with specific formats]]
[[File:ET Light Picture 352 X 240.jpg|thumb|Emergency Triage (E/T) Lights – particularly useful at night or under adverse conditions]]

A [[triage tag]] is a premade label placed on each patient that serves to accomplish several objectives:
* identify the patient.
* bear record of assessment findings.
* identify the priority of the patient's need for medical treatment and transport from the emergency scene.
* track the patients' progress through the triage process.
* identify additional hazards such as contamination.

Triage tags take a variety of forms.  Some countries use a nationally standardized triage tag,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Idoguchi K, Mizobata Y, etal |title=Usefulness of Our Proposed Format of Triage Tag |journal=Journal of Japanese Association for Acute Medicine |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=183–91 |year=2006 |doi=10.3893/jjaam.17.183 |doi-access=free }}</ref> while in other countries commercially available triage tags are used, which vary by jurisdictional choice.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Nocera A, Garner A | title = Australian disaster triage: a colour maze in the Tower of Babel | journal = The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery | volume = 69 | issue = 8 | pages = 598–602 | date = August 1999 | pmid = 10472919 | doi = 10.1046/j.1440-1622.1999.01643.x | url = http://www.ema.gov.au/www/emaweb/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/(084A3429FD57AC0744737F8EA134BACB)~Australian_disaster_triage.pdf/$file/Australian_disaster_triage.pdf | access-date = 2010-04-12 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110314034438/http://www.ema.gov.au/www/emaweb/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/(084A3429FD57AC0744737F8EA134BACB)~Australian_disaster_triage.pdf/$file/Australian_disaster_triage.pdf | archive-date = 2011-03-14 }}</ref> In some cases, international organizations also have standardized tags, as is the case with [[NATO]].<ref name="United States Marine Corps" /> The most commonly used commercial systems include the METTAG,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mettag.com/|title=METTAG Corporate website|access-date=2008-12-05|archive-date=2019-03-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328180133/https://www.mettag.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> the SMARTTAG,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tsgassociates.co.uk/English/Civilian/products/smart_tag.htm|title=Smart Triage Tag | work = TSG Associates Corporate website |access-date=2008-12-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081120030204/http://www.tsgassociates.co.uk/English/Civilian/products/smart_tag.htm |archive-date=2008-11-20}}</ref> E/T LIGHT<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2010/December/Pages/MilitaryMedics,FirstRespondersGuidedBySimpleLight.aspx|title = Military Medics, First Responders Guided By Simple Light|date = December 2010| vauthors = Beidel E | work = National Defense |publisher = National Defense Industrial Association | location = Arlington, VA |access-date = 2011-02-03|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110131074100/http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2010/December/Pages/MilitaryMedics,FirstRespondersGuidedBySimpleLight.aspx|archive-date = 2011-01-31|url-status = dead}}</ref> and the CRUCIFORM systems.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Lakha R, Moore T |title=Tolley's handbook of disaster and emergency management |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7506-6990-0 }}</ref>  More advanced tagging systems incorporate special markers to indicate whether or not patients have been contaminated by hazardous materials, and also tear off strips for tracking the movement of patients through the process.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mass Casualty START Triage and the SMART Tag System {{!}} Technical Resources |url=https://asprtracie.hhs.gov/technical-resources/resource/4082/mass-casualty-start-triage-and-the-smart-tag-system |access-date=2023-05-06 | work =  Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) | publisher = U.S. Department of Health and Human Services }}</ref>