Crisis Triage-Attention to Values in Addition to Efficiency

Researchers examined the use of two triage models on 2014/2015 data from 208 U.S. hospitals to determine their utility, consistency (i.e., whether both protocols rate patients as low or high priority), and accuracy (the number of patients with lowest priority that died prior to discharge). Researchers found that both protocols would likely be of limited utility in a catastrophic disaster with a shortage of ventilators, as each prioritized patients differently. The author emphasizes the need to incorporate additional principles into triage, particularly in the event of a pandemic.