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Emergency Medicine & First Aid vocabulary · Triage and Major Incidents

Urgent

Meaning in emergency medicine & first aid, with examples

/ˈɜːrdʒənt/adjectiveCommon term

In emergency medicine & first aid, urgent means: Needing attention soon; in triage and ambulance systems, a level of priority that is serious but usually below an immediate threat to life.

In Turkish: acil, ivedi

How it is used

Triage scales use levels such as immediate, very urgent, urgent, standard and non-urgent, and the exact levels differ between systems. In the UK, urgent care centres and the NHS 111 line deal with problems that are urgent but not emergencies. The noun is 'urgency'.

Example sentences

  1. She was triaged as urgent and waited forty minutes for a doctor.

  2. It's not life-threatening, but it is urgent: he needs a scan today.

Common collocations

  • urgent care
  • very urgent
  • non-urgent
  • urgent attention
  • triageThe process of quickly sorting patients by how urgently they need treatment, so that the sickest are seen first rather than in order of arrival.
  • emergencyA sudden, serious situation, such as an accident, a fire or a sudden illness, that needs help or action immediately.
  • life-threateningSo serious that it could cause death if it is not treated quickly, such as a blocked airway, heavy bleeding or cardiac arrest.
  • 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.

More terms: Triage and Major Incidents

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