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I don't understand what triage means at a site I encountered here:

TOOLS FOR DETECTION, TRACEABILITY, TRIAGE AND INDIVIDUAL MONITORING OF VICTIMS

TOXI-triage project addresses the operational, technological, ethical and societal dimensions of CBRN response and recovery, and importantly the economic base from which sustainable CBRN and multiuse systems are derived.

In the dictionary there are different meaning of this word which confused me.

the process of quickly examining patients who are taken to a hospital in order to decide which ones are the most seriously ill and must be treated first:

Cambridge

Also:

: the assigning of priority order to projects on the basis of where funds and other resources can be best used, are most needed, or are most likely to achieve success

Merriam Webster

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    Lexico gives only one meaning for triage, with the same meaning also applied in a non-medical context.
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Nov 15, 2020 at 17:11
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    What do you find confusing?
    – Acccumulation
    Commented Nov 15, 2020 at 17:16
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    Help me help you...I have done some editing to bring the Q more in line with site standards, but you need to also contribute. Please explain why the definitions do not help....
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Nov 15, 2020 at 22:12

2 Answers 2

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Triage was perhaps best explained in an episode of the old Mash TV series. It consists (in the emergency medical sense) of dividing incoming patients into three groups:

  1. Those who have only minor injuries/illnesses and who can therefore wait until others have been taken care of.
  2. Those who are too severely injured/ill to be expected to survive. These patients should also have treatment deferred until resources are available.
  3. Those who have injuries/illnesses sufficiently severe to put them at risk of death or permanent disability, but for whom immediate care will likely be of significant benefit. This group is given priority.

The term is often applied in a metaphorical (and less morbid) sense to non-medical scenarios (though I suspect that often the term's full meaning is not understood and appreciated).

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  • You might want to make note that #2 is not ethical in civilian hospitals, but common practice when medics are confronting overwhelming casualties during a firefight or natural disasters such as earthquakes and out of control epidemics....
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Nov 15, 2020 at 19:49
  • @jsw29 I think that is what I said, and I qualified it: in a civilian hospital under normal circumstances, it is considered unethical to leave a patient to die because they are judged "too far gone". If anything, efforts are redoubled in these cases. During a war or natural disaster, #2 may come into play, due to limited resources.
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Nov 15, 2020 at 20:40
  • That said, I worked as a medical orderly in a cancer ward before joining the military, and sometimes I saw hopeless cases left to die for "mercy". After 50 years, it is still difficult for me to reconcile...
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Nov 15, 2020 at 21:28
  • @jsw29 I've just searched for the etymology of 'triage' on line and, although some sites (including the American NIH one) say that the 'tri' part is related to the splitting into three classes all the dictionary sites seem to agree that it derives from the Middle and Modern French word 'trier' meaning 'to sort'. I think the "tri = three" idea is a false etymology.
    – BoldBen
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 1:59
  • @BoldBen - I suspect that the "tri means three" thing was invented to help explain the concept, and as a mnemonic device. But, as often happens, it took on a life of its own.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 2:07
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Triage is the process of quickly examining sick or injured people, for example after an accident or a battle, so that those who are in the most serious condition can be treated first. (Collins Cobuild Dictionary)

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    Actually, the purpose of triage is to give priority to those to whom medical attention is most likely to make a difference (that is not quite the same as what this definition says).
    – jsw29
    Commented Nov 15, 2020 at 17:22
  • I have voted the answer back up because the main clause is correct and gives a source. Moreover, it now can be read in conjunction with jsw28's correcting comment The rest of Collins Cobuilt "definition" is indeed wrong and simply shows the misfortune of quoting what would usually be considered a sufficiently reliable source.
    – Greybeard
    Commented Nov 15, 2020 at 17:37
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    Triage - medical – (uncountable) the process of deciding which patients should be seen by a doctor first, based on how serious their injury or illness is — "If you go to a hospital for treatment in Canada, you have to go through triage". (Antidote ;)
    – Patrick D
    Commented Nov 15, 2020 at 17:50

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