ABSTRACT

Hospitals and emergency departments can encounter mass casualty referrals due to Chemical, Biological, Radiation, Nuclear ve Explosive incidents (CBRNE) or other forms of disasters every minute, thus preparedness has vital importance. Transportation accidents, fire, extreme climatic events, terrorism-related incidents, warfare and other clashes, pandemic infections are other sources of casualties challenging emergency healthcare.

Emergency departments are known to be unprepared for most disasters in Turkey and worldwide. Management of mass casualties warrants robust preparedness of the hospital and emergency department beforehand. Color codes are used for triage in disaster situations. The procedures following should be organized in accord with the code applied to the presentation.

Most validated universal triage model is The Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START) (Jump START for the pediatric patients). Healthcare personnel is frequently obliged to assume de novo responsibilities when facing disaster situations. Equipment checklists are also recommended to accomplish proper interventions preparedness for disasters and mass casualties.

Four major subtypes of triage methods are used worldwide: Disaster triage in the field; communication-based triage in the field; routine emergency department triage; emergency department triage in disaster situations. Triage procedures should be carried out not only in the field but also in the emergency departments to determine patient priorities in mass casualties. “Emergency Severity Index” (ESI) is the most commonly utilized 5-tier emergency department triage systems.