Skip directly to search Skip directly to A to Z list Skip directly to navigation Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options
CDC Home

Field Triage Decision Scheme

Field Triage banner

Decide to Save Lives

Field Triage Decision Scheme: The National Trauma Triage Protocol

Each year, the approximately 1 million emergency medical services (EMS) providers have a substantial impact on the care of injured persons and on public health in this country. The profound importance of daily on-scene triage decisions made by EMS providers is reinforced by CDC-supported research that shows that the overall risk of death was 25 percent lower when care was provided at a Level I trauma center than when it was provided at a non-trauma center.

The “Field Triage Decision Scheme: The National Trauma Triage Protocol” (Decision Scheme) educational initiative was developed to help EMS providers, EMS medical directors, trauma system leadership, and EMS management learn about and implement the revised Decision Scheme. This Decision Scheme was developed in 2006 in partnership with the American College of Surgeons-Committee on Trauma and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and is grounded in current best practices in trauma triage. It has been endorsed by 17 organizations, along with concurrence from NHTSA, and is intended to be the foundation for the development, implementation, and evaluation of local and regional field triage protocols.

As part of this initiative, CDC has developed easy-to-use materials for EMS professionals. Each of these materials provides information that EMS professionals can use to take an active role in improving the health outcomes for persons injured in their communities.

Order these materials at no cost.

Continuing Education (CMEs, CNEs, CEUs)

Continuing Education Activity credit is available through CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR) Continuing Education Program. To access the report and accompanying exam, visit: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/cme/conted.html.

Endorsing Organizations

Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association

Air Medical Physician Association

American Academy of Pediatrics

American College of Emergency Physicians

American College of Surgeons

American Medical Association

American Pediatric Surgical Association

American Public Health Association

Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems

International Association of Flight Paramedics

National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians

National Association of EMS Educators

National Association of EMS Physicians

National Association of State EMS Officials

National Native American EMS Association

National Ski Patrol

The Joint Commission

With concurrence from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Learn more about Advances in Motor Vehicle Crash Response

For more information about CDC’s efforts to develop evidence-based protocols for the emergency medical community to effectively use automotive telemetry data, visit http://www.cdc.gov/injuryresponse/aacn.html.

When in doubt, transport to a trauma center.

 

Richard C. Hunt, MD, FACEP, is the director of the Division of Injury Response

Field Triage Webcast with Dr. Rick Hunt.

Register for Free

Contact Us:
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
    4770 Buford Hwy, NE
    MS F-63
    Atlanta, GA 30341-3717
  • 800-CDC-INFO
    (800-232-4636)
    TTY: (888) 232-6348
    24 Hours/Every Day
  • cdcinfo@cdc.gov
USA.gov: The U.S. Government's Official Web PortalDepartment of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention   1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) TTY: (888) 232-6348, 24 Hours/Every Day - cdcinfo@cdc.gov

A-Z Index

  1. A
  2. B
  3. C
  4. D
  5. E
  6. F
  7. G
  8. H
  9. I
  10. J
  11. K
  12. L
  13. M
  14. N
  15. O
  16. P
  17. Q
  18. R
  19. S
  20. T
  21. U
  22. V
  23. W
  24. X
  25. Y
  26. Z
  27. #