Importance and Psychology of Triage (Sorting)

Abstract

When open war broke out between Somalia and Ethiopia in the province of Ogaden, 183 casualties were rushed in by aircraft from Dire-Dawa to Addis Abeba in one night. Of the casualties 56 were alloted to my ward. Only four of these were in need of immediate surgery: one a thorax shot, another a perforated left colon by bombsplitter, a third a kidney shot with hemorrhage, and the fourth a serious debris fracture of the thigh, destruction of the hip joint, and partial division of the sciatic nerve. The latter was by far the worst type of injury of the kind and many especially younger surgeons are no longer familiar with it. Therefore, the patient was not even splinted with the risk of fat embolism, infection, and arterial damage. The remaining injured showed slighter lesions* such as Colles fracture, metacarpus and metatarsus fracture, commonplace soft parts injuries, bruises, and bums below 20%.