3 ms·

The idea is to identify the casualties that could benefit the most, and fast. Imagine if there is a bomb that goes off in a stadium or music venue or whatever

The idea is to identify the casualties that could benefit the most, and fast. Imagine if there is a bomb that goes off in a stadium or music venue or whatever (e.g. Manchester bomb in UK that was during a music concert where hundreds of people were injured simultaneously) or a major train crash etc where there are loads of major injuries simultaneously. There are say 10 first responders on the scene, but 200 casualties - who gets treated first? Blankets won't help. Chuck a drone up and it might identify the "priroity list" of who gets first aid first. E.g. someone could be in cardiac arrest who would benefit from immediate CPR, but you might not even get to them if you are manually triaging hundreds of casualties across a wide area, and they'd die "unnecessarily" just because the people on the scene didn't know/were overwhelmed/stressed out/panicking etc. I've only ever been in much much much less severe circumstances and can only say that it is hard to think straight and clearly even in such a "minor" situation - I shudder to think about what it would be like if you are amongst the first on the scene to something big. Anything that can help save the most lives is laudable.

brandonjadams 3y ago
Minor nitpick but interesting for laypeople: During a multi-casualty incident (MCI) the commonly used START triage system would invariably categorize a patient in cardiac arrest as 'Black' or 'Expectant'--these patients are typically passed over so that medics can treat more viable patients. Additionally, pulses aren't used for determining whether a patient is 'Black'. Instead, medics will check to see if the patient has spontaneous breathing: if respirations are absent, the airway is positioned (typically jaw thrust or head-tilt chin-lift). If no spontaneous breathing is present despite positioning, the patient is assessed as 'Black' and the triaging medic moves on. It is grim, but at a true trauma MCI (# patients >>> # rescuers) there should be no healthcare practitioners or rescue personnel performing CPR. This seems harsh but given the low odds of survival to discharge of traumatic cardiac arrests, it makes perfect sense in an MCI scenario.[0] [0] Work as a Critical Care Paramedic, to lazy for real references :P
- 0cf8612b2e1e 3y ago
  Definitely interesting to me! I suppose everything is situation dependent, but what is the most extreme injury which would not receive a Black? If someone lost a limb and likely to bleed out - would that be deemed worth treatment?
  - brandonjadams 3y ago
    Would depend on the following factors: respiratory rate, perfusion to skin, mental status. Typically, an amputation with significant bleed would hit the respiratory rate (>=30/min) and perfusion (cap refill >=2 secs) thresholds for 'Red'. That said, I've been present at a plane crash with four patients where one had a clean amputation that had had a tourniquet applied immediately following the crash. He was speaking clearly, had adequate perfusion, and was breathing appropriately. Technically, this patient could be categorized as a 'Yellow' and was, in this case, considered a lower priority than the head injured patient trapped within the aircraft.
  - ip26 3y ago
    A single lost limb with major bleed would probably still be breathing, and so would not be Black. Their vitals would place them in Red. They are the people triage is designed to save, by minimizing time spent with Black, Yellow, and Green.

brandonjadams 3y ago

Minor nitpick but interesting for laypeople: During a multi-casualty incident (MCI) the commonly used START triage system would invariably categorize a patient in cardiac arrest as 'Black' or 'Expectant'--these patients are typically passed over so that medics can treat more viable patients. Additionally, pulses aren't used for determining whether a patient is 'Black'. Instead, medics will check to see if the patient has spontaneous breathing: if respirations are absent, the airway is positioned (typically jaw thrust or head-tilt chin-lift). If no spontaneous breathing is present despite positioning, the patient is assessed as 'Black' and the triaging medic moves on. It is grim, but at a true trauma MCI (# patients >>> # rescuers) there should be no healthcare practitioners or rescue personnel performing CPR. This seems harsh but given the low odds of survival to discharge of traumatic cardiac arrests, it makes perfect sense in an MCI scenario.[0] [0] Work as a Critical Care Paramedic, to lazy for real references :P

0cf8612b2e1e 3y ago
Definitely interesting to me! I suppose everything is situation dependent, but what is the most extreme injury which would not receive a Black? If someone lost a limb and likely to bleed out - would that be deemed worth treatment?
- brandonjadams 3y ago
  Would depend on the following factors: respiratory rate, perfusion to skin, mental status. Typically, an amputation with significant bleed would hit the respiratory rate (>=30/min) and perfusion (cap refill >=2 secs) thresholds for 'Red'. That said, I've been present at a plane crash with four patients where one had a clean amputation that had had a tourniquet applied immediately following the crash. He was speaking clearly, had adequate perfusion, and was breathing appropriately. Technically, this patient could be categorized as a 'Yellow' and was, in this case, considered a lower priority than the head injured patient trapped within the aircraft.
- ip26 3y ago
  A single lost limb with major bleed would probably still be breathing, and so would not be Black. Their vitals would place them in Red. They are the people triage is designed to save, by minimizing time spent with Black, Yellow, and Green.