Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 424-430.e1 , September 2009

Does START Triage Work? An Outcomes Assessment After a Disaster

Presented as an oral abstract at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine annual meeting, Chicago, IL, May 2007.

  • Christopher A. Kahn, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for correspondence: Christopher A. Kahn, MD, MPH, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine, 101 The City Drive, South, Route 128-01, Orange, CA 92868; 714-456-5239, fax 714-456-5390
  • ,
  • Carl H. Schultz, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA
  • ,
  • Ken T. Miller, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA
    • Orange County Fire Authority, Irvine, CA
  • ,
  • Craig L. Anderson, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA

Received 21 September 2008 ,Revised 5 December 2008 ,Accepted 19 December 2008.

References 

  1. Guha-Sapir D, Hargitt D, Hoyois P. Thirty Years of Natural Disasters 1974-2003: The Numbers. Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Presses Universitaires de Louvain; 2004;
  2. Schultz CH, Koenig KL, Noji EK. A medical disaster response to reduce immediate mortality after an earthquake. N Engl J Med. 1996;334:438–444
  3. Super G, Groth S, Hook R, et al. START: Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment Plan. Newport Beach, CA: Hoag Memorial Presbyterian Hospital; 1994;
  4. Domestic Preparedness Training Program Instructor Guide. Soldier and Biological Chemical Command, Department of Defense; 1999;
  5. Frykberg ER. Medical management of disasters and mass casualties from terrorist bombings: how can we cope?. J Trauma. 2002;53:201–212
  6. Hirshberg A. Multiple casualty incidents: lessons from the front line. Ann Surgery. 2004;239:322–324
  7. Hupert N, Hollingsworth E, Xiong W. Is overtriage associated with increased mortality? (insights from a simulation model of mass casualty trauma care). Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2007;1(1 suppl):S14–S24
  8. Garner A, Lee A, Harrison K, et al. Comparative analysis of multiple-casualty incident triage algorithms. Ann Emerg Med. 2001;38:541–548
  9. Baxt WG, Upenieks V. The lack of full correlation between the Injury Severity Score and the resource needs of injured patients. Ann Emerg Med. 1990;19:1396–1400
  10. Obuchowski NA. Estimating and comparing diagnostic tests' accuracy when the gold standard is not binary. Acad Radiol. 2005;12:1198–1204
  11. Carpenter J, Bithell J. Bootstrap confidence intervals: when, which, what? (a practical guide for medical statisticians). Stat Med. 2000;19:1141–1164
  12. Sacco WJ, Navin DM, Fiedler KE, et al. Precise formulation and evidence-based application of resource-constrained triage. Acad Emerg Med. 2005;12:759–770
  13. Social Security Death Index Interactive Search. Rootsweb.com. http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.comAccessed April 6, 2008
  14. Engleman EG, Rosenker MV, Goglia JJ, et al. Collision of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Freight Train With Metrolink Passenger Train, Placentia, California, April 23, 2002. National Transportation Safety Board; 2003;
  15. Risavi BL, Salen PN, Heller MB, et al. A two-hour intervention using START improves prehospital triage of mass casualty incidents. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2001;5:197–199
  16. Schenker JD, Goldstein S, Braun J, et al. Triage accuracy at a multiple casualty incident disaster drill: the Emergency Medical Service, Fire Department of New York City experience. J Burn Care Res. 2006;27:570–575
  17. Aylwin CJ, Konig TC, Brennan NW, et al. Reduction in critical mortality in urban mass casualty incidents: analysis of triage, surge, and resource use after the London bombings on July 7, 2005. Lancet. 2006;368:2219–2225
  18. National Transportation Safety Review Board. 49CFR §830.2.

 Provide feedback on this article at the journal's Web site, www.annemergmed.com.

 Supervising editor: Jonathan L. Burstein, MD

 Author contributions: CAK and CHS conceived the study and designed the trial. CAK obtained research funding. CAK and CHS supervised the conduct of the trial and data collection. CAK, CHS, and KTM undertook recruitment of participating centers and collected data. CAK, CHS, and CLA managed the data, including quality control. CLA provided statistical advice on study design and analyzed the data, with assistance from CAK and CHS. CAK drafted the article, and all authors contributed substantially to its revision. CAK and CHS take responsibility for the paper as a whole.

 Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article that might create any potential conflict of interest. See the Manuscript Submission Agreement in this issue for examples of specific conflicts covered by this statement. This article was supported by an F32 fellowship training grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, awarded to Christopher Kahn, #HS-15768.

 Publication date: Available online February 5, 2009.

 Reprints not available from the authors.

PII: S0196-0644(09)00002-X

doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2008.12.035

Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 424-430.e1 , September 2009