
We get to the end of the EMT class and we haven’t even caught our breath from all the trauma skills. Then comes the operations module. A key skill in that section that is often overlooked is triage. PowerPoints and lecture alone don’t cut it. So how do we teach the concepts of triage?
I’ve seen in-class triage exercises with everything from soda bottles to Barbie dolls. This exercise makes an even simpler introduction. The downloadable form has twenty patients. Give it out to your students and have them triage each patient on the form. Some are straightforward, others are more complicated. Remember that your facilitation makes any dynamic exercise even more valuable. Call on your students to read their triage decision for a particular patient. See if everyone agrees. If not, ask the students why they chose what they chose. This creates those amazing teachable moments.
Just because you can’t do an MCI drill for every class doesn’t mean your students can’t learn triage. This exercise is short and simple yet dynamic. Enjoy.
Previous Dynamic Learning Exercises: