Editing Management of Care (section)

=== Triage frameworks ===
In an emergency department, patients are sorted by acuity so that the sickest are seen first. In a '''mass casualty or disaster''', the goal changes from doing the most for each individual to doing the '''greatest good for the greatest number'''. Under a color-coded disaster system, red or immediate marks life-threatening injuries that are survivable with rapid intervention; yellow or delayed marks serious injuries that can tolerate a short wait; green or minimal marks the walking wounded; and black or expectant marks injuries incompatible with survival given available resources. Recognizing this reversal is the point of most disaster items: in daily practice the most critically injured are treated first, and in a disaster the patient who cannot be saved with the resources at hand is not treated first.

'''Application note.''' A practical sequence for any "which patient do you see first" item is: eliminate any option that is an expected finding for that diagnosis, then apply ABC, then unstable over stable, then acute over chronic, then actual over potential. If two options remain, ask which patient will deteriorate soonest without you.