title: Mass casualty triage: an evaluation of the science and refinement of a national guideline.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA. eblerner@mcw.edu
authors.forename: E Brooke
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Cone
authors.forename: Eric S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Weinstein
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Phillip L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Coule
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cronin
authors.forename: Ian S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Wedmore
authors.forename: Eileen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Bulger
authors.forename: Deborah Ann
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Mulligan
authors.forename: Raymond E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Swienton
authors.forename: Scott M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sasser
authors.forename: Umair A
authors.initials: UA
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Leonard J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Weireter
authors.forename: Teri L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Sanddal
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lairet
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Markenson
authors.forename: Lou
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Romig
authors.forename: Gregg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lord
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salomone
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Hunt
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D060731:Emergency Responders; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D054527:Mass Casualty Incidents; D017146:Models, Organizational; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011361:Professional Competence; D011634:Public Health; D012066:Relief Work; D014218:Triage / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States