Have you ever been to an emergency room? You know they can be really busy places. Any kind of illness and injury could pass through, from a bad sore throat to a gunshot wound. But how do the physicians in the emergency room know who to treat first? That’s done through the process known as triage. Triage is where the patient’s condition is assessed and it is decided how long the patient can await without suffering any harm. It is called triage because there are three criteria which are considered to evaluate the level of emergency involved. Obviously a gunshot wound needs to be dealt with sooner than a sore throat. The three categories are:

• Is the condition immediately life threatening? • The condition is urgent, but not immediately life threatening. • The condition is not urgent

The triage is done by taking the patient’s vital signs, such as his temperature, blood pressure, pulse and respiratory rate. Also a medical history is taken including recent medical issues, medications which the patient is already on, and any other relevant information.

Depending on how the patient is triaged will determine how long he will have to wait for an examination. The length of the wait will also depend on the number of other patients who have arrived at the same time as the patient, and with what conditions. A trip to the emergency room for anything other than an emergency is a wait of time and valuable resources, and should be avoided whenever possible.