Mass casualty triage: an evaluation of the science and refinement of a national guideline. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2011 Jun;5(2):129-37
Date
06/21/2011Pubmed ID
21685309DOI
10.1001/dmp.2011.39Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84858643591 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 57 CitationsAbstract
Mass casualty triage is the process of prioritizing multiple victims when resources are not sufficient to treat everyone immediately. No national guideline for mass casualty triage exists in the United States. The lack of a national guideline has resulted in variability in triage processes, tags, and nomenclature. This variability has the potential to inject confusion and miscommunication into the disaster incident, particularly when multiple jurisdictions are involved. The Model Uniform Core Criteria for Mass Casualty Triage were developed to be a national guideline for mass casualty triage to ensure interoperability and standardization when responding to a mass casualty incident. The Core Criteria consist of 4 categories: general considerations, global sorting, lifesaving interventions, and individual assessment of triage category. The criteria within each of these categories were developed by a workgroup of experts representing national stakeholder organizations who used the best available science and, when necessary, consensus opinion. This article describes how the Model Uniform Core Criteria for Mass Casualty Triage were developed.
Author List
Lerner EB, Cone DC, Weinstein ES, Schwartz RB, Coule PL, Cronin M, Wedmore IS, Bulger EM, Mulligan DA, Swienton RE, Sasser SM, Shah UA, Weireter LJ Jr, Sanddal TL, Lairet J, Markenson D, Romig L, Lord G, Salomone J, O'Connor R, Hunt RCMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
BenchmarkingDisaster Planning
Emergency Responders
Emergency Service, Hospital
Humans
Mass Casualty Incidents
Models, Organizational
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Professional Competence
Public Health
Relief Work
Triage
United States