Mobile Agents in Healthcare, a Distributed Intelligence Approach - Computational Intelligence in Healthcare: Advanced Methodologies - page 64

First it is checked if the victim can walk. If they can, they are labeled with a green
triage tag and they are asked to go by their means from the area where the accident
or disaster area to where the field hospital is located. Once in the area of the field
hospital, they may be treated by the medical staff. If no urgent attention is needed, they
recommend the victim to go by themself to a health center where they can be attended.
If the victim has reduced mobility, or there is risk of injury in case of movement, the
triage personnel do further checks. First the breathe is checked. If there is no breath,
an airway is opened. If they continue without breathing, they are labeled with a black
triage tag. If the victim recovers breath thanks to the actions of medical personnel he is
labeled with a red triage tag.
In case the patient without mobility breathes, the number of breaths per minute are
checked. If they exceed 30 or they are less than 10, the victim is labeled with a red
triage tag. Otherwise, the pulse is checked.
The pulse is checked in the wrist. If no pulse is found or if it is over 120 beats per
minute, the victim is labeled with a red triage tag. If it is below 120, the response of
the victim to some simple commands is checked. If the patient responds correctly to the
orders, a yellow triage tag is assigned, otherwise a red one is chosen.
It should be said that wrist pulse may be replaced by a capillary test. The index finger
of the victim is pressed for a few seconds and how long filling of blood vessels takes,
i.e., the time since the area changes from white color to red again, is measured. If it is
under 2 seconds a yellow triage tag is assigned, otherwise it is labeled red.
Triage tags are placed around the neck or wrist of the victim and allow to classify
the victims according to their severity, so that when medical help arrives the status of
each victim can be easily distinguished.

5.2.3 Electronic Triage Systems
Some systems [35] [22] [14] use as a substitute for the traditional triage tag electronic
devices with features that improve the current system. These devices have cardiac

Walking

Yes

No

MINOR

Respirations

Yes

No

Position Airway
Respirations

Rate

No Yes

Under 30/min

Over 30/min

Perfusion

DECEASED IMMEDIATE IMMEDIATE

Radial Pulse
Absent

Radial Pulse
Present

Mental Status
Can Follow Simple Commands?

IMMEDIATE

No

Yes

IMMEDIATE DELAYED

Fig. 5. START Flow