[Triage: (medico-) legal implications].
Zeitschrift fur Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualitat im Gesundheitswesen · 2010-01-01 · Other / unclear
Abstract
Incidents with a large number of diseased and injured people (i.e., mass casualty incidents) require special medical logistics. Due to the disproportion between the unknown number of patients and the limited number of medical personnel and equipment, there is an urgent need to use available resources to their full extent so that the largest possible number of patients can receive the emergency care they need. This, however, requires a medical categorisation of patients based on the indication and urgency of their medical treatment. This process of prioritising is the primary task of the senior emergency physician. The result of this so-called triage is being documented on triage tags.