Okuzeka
Emergency Medicine & First Aid vocabulary · Triage and Major Incidents

Walking wounded

Meaning in emergency medicine & first aid, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In emergency medicine & first aid, walking wounded means: Injured people who are still able to walk at the scene of an incident; in triage they are usually the lowest priority group.

In Turkish: yürüyebilen yaralılar, ayaktaki yaralılar

How it is used

A plural group noun: 'the walking wounded were sent to a collection point'. In systems such as START triage, rescuers ask everyone who can walk to move to one area, which quickly separates them from the more seriously injured. Some later turn out to be badly hurt, so they are reassessed.

Example sentences

  1. The walking wounded are gathered next to the fire engine.

  2. About forty walking wounded went to the nearest hospital by bus.

Common collocations

  • the walking wounded
  • walking wounded area
  • triage the walking wounded
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • casualtyA person who is injured or suddenly ill and needs first aid; in news reports, also a person killed or injured in an accident, disaster or war.

More terms: Triage and Major Incidents

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