CERT Continuing Ed - Triage

Gene Bates, of the Arlington Fire Department, presented a really interesting class on Triage and shared some of his experiences as a First Responder on the 1985 Delta 191 crash. Triage is part of the original CERT training, but this was an excellent refresher. After a 30 minute lecture, the class was divided into Black/Red/Yellow/Green sectors and sent a search & rescue team outside to locate 20 victims (6" hard plastic action figures) with their presentations on strips attached to their little bodies. As in a real situation, the Triage Team of 3 went out first to triage and tag the victims, then the Rescue teams of two hand carried victims to the correct sector for first aid and removal from the scene in accordance with the colored tags. Green (walking wounded) received a victim that was clearly miscategorized, so we uppped him to a yellow and carried him to the proper location. See description of indicators on the tag. In lieu of formal tags, strips of colored plastic can be tied on the victim and, in a pinch, a Magic Marker or pen can be used to write the injury level on the forehead. Triage should take no more than 30 seconds per victim. No first aid is administered unless profuse bleeding or blocked airway, and in those cases only pressure to staunch blood flow and raising the chin to assist in breathing. In the triage stage of an emergency, it gets very basic and likely appears callous and unfeeling. Nothing can be further from the truth. The need is to assess all patients as soon as possible, then remove the most serious to a location where they can be given first aid, if possible, and removed to a hospital ASAP. I hope I never need to use the training.