Foundations · Chapter 4 Not started

Incident Command and Triage

Organizing multi-patient and multi-agency incidents, and sorting patients when needs exceed resources.

Key points

The Incident Command System (ICS) gives every incident one incident commander, a manageable span of control, and common terminology.
A mass-casualty incident (MCI) is any event where patient needs exceed immediately available resources.
Triage sorts patients by treatment priority: immediate (red), delayed (yellow), minor (green), and deceased/expectant (black).
In START-style triage, assess respirations, perfusion, and mental status quickly; correct only airway obstruction and severe bleeding during triage.
A patient who is not breathing after one airway repositioning attempt is triaged deceased/expectant; breathing over 30/min, absent radial pulse, or failure to follow commands tags a patient immediate.
Walking wounded are directed to a collection point first — they are minor (green) by default and re-triaged later.

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