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Triage

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Medical Response to Major Incidents and Disasters

Abstract

The term triage refers to the method used to identify those in greatest need of care when faced with a large number of severely injured or critically ill patients. Triage during major incidents (MIs) has to be a dynamic process, which means it should be reevaluated at every stage of the chain of management and adjusted to the patient’s condition to the effects of performed treatment and to the position in the chian of management. There are two different main principles for triage: (1) “anatomical” triage based on identified injuries and knowledge about the clinical course of, and risks connected to, these injuries, which requires clinical knowledge and experience; and (2) “physiological” triage based on simple physiological parameters that, when inserted into an algorithm, automatically give a priority, which means that this method can be used also by staff with limited clinical experience. There are many such algorithms developed and in use.

Selection of the method for triage must be adapted to the level in the chain of response at which the triage is done and the competence of the staff performing the triage. Different methods can be justified at different levels of response.

The categories of priority must be clearly defined, and a uniform international terminology is desirable. The priority must be clearly indicated on the patient with a system that allows for easy and rapid changes in priority according to the demand on triage as a dynamic process.

An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21895-8_20

An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21895-8_20

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Prehospital & Disaster Medicine, Regionkansliet, Västra Gätaland, 40 544, Göteborg, Sweden

    Kristina Lennquist Montán

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  1. Kristina Lennquist Montán
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Correspondence to Kristina Lennquist Montán .

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  1. Ängslyckestigen 4, Söderköping, 614 32, Sweden

    Sten Lennquist

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Montán, K.L. (2012). Triage. In: Lennquist, S. (eds) Medical Response to Major Incidents and Disasters. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21895-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21895-8_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-21894-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-21895-8

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