Triage decisions of prehospital emergency health care providers, using a multiple casualty scenario paper exercise

OBJECTIVE: To examine the accuracy of theoretical triage decision making among emergency prehospital health care professionals, using a multiple casualty paper exercise. METHODS: A standardised 20 casualty paper exercise requiring each casualty to be prioritised for treatment was given to 100 doctors, 59 nurses, and 74 ambulance paramedics who could potentially be involved at the scene of a multiple casualty incident. Each paper was scored using the triage sieve algorithm. The paper contained descriptions of two casualties regarded as dead, six priority 1 casualties, six priority 2 casualties, and six priority 3 casualties. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the scores received by both doctors and nurses, but paramedics did significantly less well than both nurses and doctors (p