Research indicates that the most effective triage is performed by experienced providers using their clinical skill. Tools and protocols such as START or SALT are valuable to personnel that do not routinely triage trauma patients, but trauma criteria applied on an everyday basis to categorize patients as critical should also be applied during mass casualty situations whenever relevant as this generates practice and familiarity.

On-scene triage and trauma care should only be conducted if it safe to do so. The safety of first responders and pre-hospital providers is always paramount, and when adequate transportation resources are available triage activities should not delay rapid transport to a trauma hospital. This Topic Collection can help hospital emergency planners, EMS personnel, and emergency medicine clinicians understand the basics of field triage and immediate stabilization of MCI victims. Lessons learned from recent incidents are included. For incident-specific information, access our Topic Collections on Burns, Explosives and Mass Shooting, and Radiological and Nuclear Events.