Patient triage disaster vs normal situations

[jorla9903]

what are the key differences in patient triage in a disaster situation vs. within a medical facility under normal operations?

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

disaster situations mean more patients at once, and all are high acuity. They challenge all the resources. After all, how many ventilators do you have just sitting around? How many nurses know how to monitor a patient on a ventilator? How many trauma rooms are empty? O2 tanks not being used elsewhere?

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

The type of disaster also has to be considered -- if it's a HAZMAT situation, it's a whole different ballgame with decontamination, PPE, etc.

[Da_Milk_of_Amnesia, MSN]

The triage system is based on colors and injuries

Green usually symbolized someone who is defined as 'walking wounded'

Yellow is serious but not life threatening

Red is Immediate treatment/Transport

Black is deady

Usually if you have an MCI you're going to be treating people based on what color they have. It's based on utilitarianism and trying to do the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. It sometimes means walking over people who are dying that you know on a normal day you could potentially help. It sucks but when you have other people that need the help and CAN be saved as opposed to someone who just MIGHT be saved. I've been involved in multiple MCIs and it's a tough thing to do. As far as the hospital goes, because I work at a trauma center we have a code triage and Levels and depending on the amout of people that come in depends on what level we go to. The ER we pull nurses from the floors to help them triage people down in the ER. It's gets wild for the most part. But that's in short. Maybe someone knows a little better than me, but that's what I've experienced.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

In a normal triage situation, you take the most critically injured/ill first.

In mass casualty, you treat the ones with the highest chance of survivability first and sometimes the more seriously hurt/ill don't get treated because you have to spread your resources out where they will do the most good.