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Emergency Medicine & First Aid vocabulary · Triage and Major Incidents

Triage

Meaning in emergency medicine & first aid, with examples

/ˈtriːɑːʒ/nounCore term

In emergency medicine & first aid, triage means: The process of quickly sorting patients by how urgently they need treatment, so that the sickest are seen first rather than in order of arrival.

In Turkish: triyaj, önceliklendirme

How it is used

Used both in emergency departments and at major incidents. Patients are triaged (verb) by a triage nurse into categories, often shown by colour or number. Phone triage happens in call centres. Staff also use 'triage' for the area where this happens: 'Triage is busy.'

Example sentences

  1. She was triaged as category two and seen within ten minutes.

  2. Triage is busy tonight, there are twenty people waiting.

Common collocations

  • triage nurse
  • triage category
  • be triaged
  • triage area
  • phone triage
  • triage tagA coloured label attached to a casualty at a major incident to show their treatment priority, so that other rescuers can see it at a glance.
  • urgentNeeding attention soon; in triage and ambulance systems, a level of priority that is serious but usually below an immediate threat to life.
  • mass casualty incidentAn event, such as a major crash, explosion or building collapse, that causes more casualties than local emergency services can normally handle at once.
  • emergency departmentThe hospital department that treats people who arrive with a sudden illness or injury, without an appointment, 24 hours a day.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Triage and Major Incidents

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.