A need for prehospital triage standardizing tool in mass casualty incidents

There is no global consensus on the use of prehospital triage systems in mass casualty incidents [1,2]. However, most of the triage systems aim to cover four essential factors: speed, precision, fairness, and compatibility [3], of which the element of speed of decision-making is of importance, due t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Amir Khorram-Manesh, Johan Nordling, Eric Carlström, Krzysztof Goniewicz, Roberto Faccincani, Frederick M. Burkle
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Termedia Publishing House 2021-07-01
Series:Health Problems of Civilization
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Online Access:https://www.termedia.pl/A-need-for-prehospital-triage-standardizing-tool-in-mass-casualty-incidents,99,44702,1,1.html
Description
Summary:There is no global consensus on the use of prehospital triage systems in mass casualty incidents [1,2]. However, most of the triage systems aim to cover four essential factors: speed, precision, fairness, and compatibility [3], of which the element of speed of decision-making is of importance, due to the large number of casualties that should be managed. Prehospital triage systems range from fast, crude algorithms and flowcharts to complex scoring systems requiring exact information on vital parameters, mechanisms of injury and available resources [1,2]. This heterogeneity constitutes a particular threat in the event of a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) which often involves rescue personnel from different organizations or nationalities. There have been several attempts to achieve a global or national consensus in a number of cases without fruition due to a lack of actual research behind the origin or refinements of the various systems. When proposing a modern system for universal consideration there often has not been much more than anecdotal evidence to its efficacy, making it hard to choose one over the other [1-4].
ISSN:2353-6942
2354-0265