For the hurt and injured, when it comes to natural or man-made disasters, medical triage puts them in four categories. They are ranked as follows: Minor, Delayed, Immediate, and Morgue. However, as a law enforcement or emergency medical personal, triage becomes a matter of deciding who may live and who may die. How does one decide whose life is more important between the 10 year old, lower class male who has no pulse from shock and or the 50 year old, upper class, father of two, who is suffering a severe heart attack?
Many First Responders like police officers and firefighter are trained in the use of the S.T.A.R.T. method when it comes to mass causality incidents. According to MedicineNet.com, S.T.A.R.T. stands for Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment and was developed in Newport Beach, California. The S.T.A.R.T. method is similar to triage but involves a quicker assessment of the injured subject. If you are talking and mobile, it is possible that you may be placed in the minor category for triage care. It is interesting to note that for the less experienced medical technician, it is hard to ignore subjects who are bleeding and screaming in pain but it is necessary to ensure that the most critically injured be prepped and stabilized for transportation to a hospital. Unlike the S.T.A.R.T. method, advanced triage surrounds the idea of the most critically injured are given priority for medical care and transportation.
In advanced triage, social and class factors do not matter, in caring for the subject. Medical care surrounds the idea that the dead are placed in the Morgue category. However, the people who are about to die are given priority medical care. It is possible that in a Hurricane Katrina or Loma Prieta drugs and medical supplies and care won't be given to those people who have minor injuries. Also in these extreme and severe conditions where medical transportation is rare, people who are given a quick preliminary exam in the S.T.A.R.T. method and placed as "Minor" may or may not see hospital care for hours and even days. It is possible if a subject cannot receive the professional care of a hospital and is in critical condition, professional care may be stopped on them. At that time, this medical judgment call is made by the highest medical professional in the field. It is important for medical personal to put aside their feelings and understand the difference between the living, the dead, and those who are about to die if they do not receive care.
With this idea in mind, medical personal must set aside favoritism, pre- conceived notions, and biases, as these may affect the natural decision making process. When one’s pre – conceived notions affect there judgments, as humans, medical personal tend to fall back on to their training. All emergency medical services have adopted a policy of resorting back to their fundamentals. In this idea, medical personal at the scene of an accident or disaster must follow strict protocol in treating a subject. So one’s race, gender, or sexual orientation does not affect that way they receive treatment. It is hard to ignore a person’s cries for help, but if personal feelings effects one’s actions, they comprise their job and the integrity of their department. This task is easier said than done but is a “necessary evil” in maintaining professionalism and order during critical disasters.
So medical triage can be analyzed many different ways. However, it is up to the individual, whether they be a paramedic or law enforcement officer to make the appropriate judgments when necessary. In simple terms, each individual is tasked with the ability to “play god” and may be called on to make a critical decision of who lives and dies during the duration of their career. Putting aside one’s feelings and ideas is un-human but is necessary to maintain order. For those called on to make the decision of who lives and dies, there is no protocol and standing orders helping them deal with the guilt that someone may not go home to their love ones that day. In the emergency medical field, as a first responder, one stands as the difference in the balance of life and death.
Works Cited
MedicineNet.com
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