Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study is to review the available tools for prehospital triage in case of mass casualty incidents and secondly, to develop a tool which enables lay person first responders (LPFRs) to perform triage and start basic life support in mass casualty incidents.
METHODS: In July 2019, online databases were consulted. Studies addressing prehospital triage methods for lay people were analyzed. Secondly, a new prehospital triage tool for LPFRs was developed. Therefore, a search for prehospital triage models available in literature was conducted and triage actions were extracted.
RESULTS: The search resulted in 6188 articles, and after screening, a scoping review of 4 articles was conducted. All articles stated that there is great potential to provide accurate prehospital triage by people with no healthcare experience. Based on these findings, and combined with the pre-existing prehospital triage tools, we developed a, not-yet validated, prehospital triage tool for lay people, which may improve disaster awareness and preparedness and might positively contribute to community resilience.
CONCLUSION: The prehospital triage tool for lay person first responders may be useful and may help professional medical first responders to determine faster, which casualties most urgently need help in a mass casualty incident.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1242-1252 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 8 Apr 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Acknowledgements. The authors would like to thank Wichor M Bramer, PhDas biomedical information specialist from the Erasmus Medical Center medical
library for the collaboration in developing the literary search strategy
Publisher Copyright:
© Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2021.
