You are working in the emergency department of a large hospital. An enormous tornado has hit your area.
There are mass casualties. Reports show that an extended care facility near the hospital has been hit. Survivors begin to arrive. You begin to assess a 78-year-old woman with a history of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
and Chronic Lung Disease (CLD). She has moderate difficulty breathing and a minor laceration on her forehead. The bleeding is controlled. She is a widow with no children. She was transferred from the extended care
facility.
Questions:
1.) What are your patient’s risk factors?
2.) At what level would you triage her care?
3.) When applying the SWiFT assessment, where would the best placement for this patient be?
4.) Describe the two commonly used systems in healthcare used for triage during mass casualties.
