Definition
Triage is the act of prioritizing delivery of patient care based on available resources, patient need, and anticipated benefit.
Triage is a dynamic process and occurs within each level of care and in transition of care tiers (please see the Mass Casualty Incident section for further details). This process occurs through prehospital, emergency department, operating theater, general and intensive care units. The overarching goal of triage, in the absence of a mass casualty scenario, is to provide the “greatest good for the patient” based on an assessment of the patient’s physiology, anatomy of injury, mechanistic indicators, and available resources (Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient 2006). During a mass casualty incident, the process of triage evolves from a patient- to population-based care model where the greatest good for the greatest number is...
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American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (2006) Prehospital trauma care. In: Resources for the optimal care of the injured patient. American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (Chap 3)
American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (2012) Initial assessment and management. In: Advanced trauma life support, 9th edn. American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (Chap 1)
MacKersie RC (2006) History of field triage development and the American College of Surgeons criteria. Prehosp Emerg Care 10(3):287–294
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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Kim, B.D. (2015). Triage. In: Papadakos, P.J., Gestring, M.L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Trauma Care. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29613-0_406
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29613-0_406
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