TRIAGE SYSTEM

TRIAGE SYSTEM

Simple triage - used at the scene of a mass casualty incident to select patients into those who need immediate transport to the hospital in order to save their lives and those who can wait for help later. This skill is required by first responders performing field triage on the battlefield or at a disaster site to assess the patients' need for transport prior to transportation becoming available. The categorization of patients based on their severity of injury can be aided with the use of printed triage tags or colored flagging.

Advanced triage -doctors may decide that some seriously injured people should not receive certain care because they are unlikely to survive. This does not mean that these patients will not receive any care; it only means that more advanced care will be used on less seriously wounded patients. The available care is then concentrated on those with some hope of survival. (ethical implications??)


Triage in Malaysia – emergency department:

This is done by allocation of triage cards according to the patient’s severity or condition.


1.Red / Immediate
They require immediate surgery or other life-saving intervention, first priority for surgical teams or transport to advanced facilities, "cannot wait" but are likely to survive with immediate treatment.

2.Yellow / Observation
Their condition is stable for the moment but requires watching by trained persons and frequent re-triage, will need hospital care

3.Green / Wait (walking wounded)
They will require a doctor's care in several hours or days but not immediately, may wait for a number of hours or be told to go home and come back the next day (broken bones without compound fractures, many soft tissue injuries).