Field First Aid Triage Quick-Read
START triage categories. Not medical advice; call 911.
Reference
Categories
- Immediate (red) Life-threatening injury that needs prompt intervention but the patient is salvageable. Examples: airway compromise, severe bleeding controllable in the field.
- Delayed (yellow) Serious but not immediately life-threatening; can wait for transport.
- Minor (green) Walking wounded; minor injuries; can self-evacuate.
- Expectant / deceased (black) Injuries incompatible with life given current resources, or deceased.
This is not medical advice. Call 911. See sophiewell.com for field-medicine reference.
START triage categories by name only. Original plain-English summary.
Details, formula, and sources
(reference page; no compute) START (Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment) categories: immediate (red), delayed (yellow), minor (green), expectant (black). Decision tree based on respiration, perfusion, and mental status.
START / JumpSTART triage frameworks by name (Hoag Hospital / Newport Beach Fire 1983; JumpSTART 1995). FEMA NIMS ICS-100 / ICS-200 reference materials.
START reference materials free at chemm.hhs.gov and at most state EMS authority sites. NIMS materials free at fema.gov/training.
Geometry is not forecasting. Avalanche advisory and incident commander govern.