Editing Triage (section)

==== 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>