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MCI Triage: Beyond Red , Yellow, Green and Black. Lou E. Romig MD, FAAP, FACEP Miami Children’s Hospital Miami-Dade Fire Rescue FL-5 DMAT. Topics. Triage Categories. What is Triage?. Triage Tools. What is Triage?. “Triage” means “to sort”
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MCI Triage:BeyondRed, Yellow, GreenandBlack Lou E. Romig MD, FAAP, FACEP Miami Children’s Hospital Miami-Dade Fire Rescue FL-5 DMAT
Topics Triage Categories What is Triage? Triage Tools
What is Triage? • “Triage” means “to sort” • Looks at medical needs and urgency of each individual patient • Sorting based on limited data acquisition • Also must consider resource availability
Military vs. Civilian Triage Priority is to get as many soldiers back into action as possible. Priority is to maximize survival of the greatest number of victims.
Military vs. Civilian Triage • Military model Those with the least serious wounds may be the first treatment priority • Civilian model Those with the most serious but realistically salvageable injuries are treated first
Military vs. Civilian Triage In both models, victims with clearly lethal injuries or those who are unlikely to survive even with extensive resource application are treated as the lowest priority.
Ethical Justification This is one of the few places where a "utilitarian rule" governs medicine: the greater good of the greater number rather than the particular good of the patient at hand. This rule is justified only because of the clear necessity of general public welfare in a crisis. A. Jonsen and K. Edwards, “Resource Allocation” in Ethics in Medicine, Univ. of Washington School of Medicine, http://eduserv.hscer.washington.edu/bioethics/topics/resall.html
Why Should Responders Care About Good Triage? • Provides a way to draw organization out of chaos • Helps to get care to those who need it and will benefit from it the most • Helps in resource allocation • Provides an objective framework for stressful and emotional decisions
Why Should Planners Plan For Good Triage? • As a system tool, it provides a way to draw organization out of chaos. • Helps to get care to those who need it and will benefit from it the most and speeds efficient patient evacuation.
Why Should Planners Plan For Good Triage? • Helps in resource planning and allocation. • Provides an objective framework for stressful and emotional decisions, helping rescue workers to be more efficient and effective.
Why are Resources Important in Triage? • Disaster is commonly defined as an incident in which patient care needs overwhelm local response resources. • Daily emergency care is not usually constrained by resource availability.
Abundant resources relative to demand P P P P P P P R (P = Patient) Do the best for each individual
P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P Resources challenged (P = Patient) R Do the best for each individual
Resources overwhelmed Do the greatest good for the greatest number P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P R P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P (P = Patient)
Daily Emergencies Do the best for each individual. Disaster Settings Do the greatest good for the greatest number. Maximize survival.
Triage is a dynamic process and is usually done more than once.
Primary Disaster Triage • Goal: to sort patients based on probable needs for immediate care. Also to recognize futility. • Assumptions: • Medical needs outstrip immediately available resources • Additional resources will become available with time
Primary Disaster Triage • Triage based on physiology • How well the patient is able to utilize their own resources to deal with their injuries • Which conditions will benefit the most from the expenditure of limited resources
Primary Disaster Triage • The most commonly used adult tool in the US and Canada is the START tool. • The only recognized pediatric MCI primary triage tool used in the US and Canada is the JumpSTART tool. • Other tools exist but are less oriented to mass casualties than triaging smaller numbers of (adult) trauma patients.
Basic Disaster Life Support • National Disaster Life Support Education Consortium, via Medical College of Georgia’s Center of Operational Medicine • Endorsed by the American Medical Association • Disaster Medicine Online University (www.dmou.org)
Basic Disaster Life Support • MASS Triage • Move • Assess • Sort • Send • ? Assessment guidelines • ? Pediatric considerations
The Best Tool? No MCI primary triage tool has been validated by outcome data. Wiseman DB, Ellenbogen R, Shaffrey CI. “Triage for the Neurosurgeon”, Neurosurg Focus 12(3), 2002. Available on the Internet at www.medscape.com/viewarticle/431314
Secondary Disaster Triage • Goal: to best match patients’ current and anticipated needs with available resources. • Incorporates: • A reassessment of physiology • An assessment of physical injuries • Initial treatment and assessment of patient response • Further knowledge of resource availability
Secondary Triage Tools • There is no widely recognized tool in the US that addresses secondary MCI triage. • California “Medical Disaster Response” course’s SAVE tool (Secondary Assessment of Victim Endpoint) • Many EMS systems use local trauma center triage criteria.
NATO Guidelines • Red Airway obstruction, cardiorespiratory failure, significant external hemorrhage, shock, sucking chest wound, burns of face or neck • Yellow Open thoracic wound, penetrating abdominal wound, severe eye injury, avascular limb, fractures, significant burns other than face, neck or perineum
NATO Guidelines • Green Minor lacerations, contusions, sprains, superficial burns, partial-thickness burns of < 20% BSA • Black Head injury with GCS<8, burns >85% BSA, multisystem trauma, signs of impending death Burkle FM, Orebaugh S, Barendse BR, Ann Emerg Med 23:742-747, 1994
Secondary Triage Tools • Goal is to distinguish between: • Victims needing life-saving treatment that can only be provided in a hospital setting. • Victims needing life-saving treatment initially available on scene. • Victims with moderate non-life-threatening injuries, at risk for delayed complications. • Victims with minor injuries.
Tertiary Disaster Triage • Goal: to optimize individual outcome • Incorporates: • Sophisticated assessment and treatment • Further assessment of available medical resources • Determination of best venue for definitive care
Primary Triage Secondary Triage Tertiary Triage
MCI Triage: Key Points • Resources and patient numbers and acuity are limiting factors. • Must be dynamic, responsive to changes in both resources and patient needs. • There is currently no civilian MCI triage system that has been validated by outcome data.
Triage Categories • Red: Life-threatening but treatable injuries requiring rapid medical attention • Yellow: Potentially serious injuries, but are stable enough to wait a short while for medical treatment
Triage Categories • Green: Minor injuries that can wait for longer periods of time for treatment • Black: Dead or still with life signs but injuries are incompatible with survival in austere conditions
START • Simple Triage And Rapid Treatment • Developed jointly by Newport Beach (CA) Fire and Marine Dept. and Hoag Hospital • Gold standard for field adult multiple casualty (MCI) triage in the US and numerous countries around the world
START • Utilizes the same four triage categories • Used for Primary Triage • www.start-triage.com
START Triage RESPIRATIONS Under 30/min YES PERFUSION NO Over 30/min Cap refill > 2 sec Cap refill < 2 sec. Position Airway Immediate Control Bleeding NO YES MENTAL STATUS Immediate Dead or Expectant Immediate Failure to follow simple commands Can follow simple commands Immediate Delayed
START: Step 1 Triage officer announces that all patients that can walk should get up and walk to a designated area for eventual secondary triage. All ambulatory patients are initially tagged as Green.
START: Step 2 • Triage officer assesses patients in the order in which they are encountered • Assess for presence or absence of spontaneous respirations • If breathing, move to Step 3 • If apneic, open airway • If patient remains apneic, tag as Black • If patient starts breathing, tag as Red
START: Step 3 • Assess respiratory rate • If ≤30, proceed to Step 4 • If 30, tag patient as Red
START: Step 4 • Assess capillary refill • If ≤ 2 seconds, move to Step 5 • If 2 seconds, tag as Red
START: Step 5 • Assess mental status • If able to obey commands, tag as Yellow • If unable to obey commands, tag as Red
R P M 30 2 Can do Mnemonic
JumpSTART Pediatric MCI Triage • Developed by Lou Romig MD, FAAP, FACEP • Now in widespread use throughout the US and Canada • Being taught in Japan, Germany, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, Africa, Polynesia
JumpSTART Pediatric MCI Triage • Recognized by the US National Disaster Medical System • Published in Brady’s Prehospital Emergency Care, 7th ed. • Published in APLS course • www.jumpstarttriage.com
Patients who are able to walk are assumed to have stable, well-compensated physiology, regardless of the nature of their injuries or illness.
Secondary Triage • All green patients must be individually assessed in secondary triage. • Assess physiology • Assess injuries • Assess probability of deterioration • Assess needs vs. resource availability