triage

American  

[tree-ahzh] / triˈɑʒ /

noun

1. the process of sorting victims, as of a battle or disaster, to determine medical priority in order to increase the number of survivors.

2. the determination of priorities for action.

   She began her workday with a triage of emails.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or performing the task of triage.

   a triage officer.

verb (used with object)

triaged, triaging

1. to act on or in by triage.

   to triage a crisis.

triage British  

/ ˌtriːˈɑːʒ, ˈtraɪ-, ˈtriːˌɑːʒ /

noun

1. (in a hospital) the principle or practice of sorting emergency patients into categories of priority for treatment

2. the principle or practice of sorting casualties in battle or disaster into categories of priority for treatment

3. the principle or practice of allocating limited resources, as of food or foreign aid, on a basis of expediency rather than according to moral principles or the needs of the recipients

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Etymology

Origin of triage

First recorded in 1925–30; from French: “a sorting,” from tri(er) “to sort” ( try ) + -age -age

Example Sentences

The trust says it has now introduced a new telephone triage service with experienced midwives "purely tasked with making decisions as to when to bring women into hospital".

From BBC

Ruben was arrested at a nearby pub while the group were eating lunch, and 38 children were taken to the local village hall for medical triage.

From BBC

Through the chaos, with everyone else gone, Brugman and Driedger sat down to answer the phones and triage the information coming in.

From Literature

She said the "triage service was frequently understaffed" and at Bedford around a quarter of calls went unanswered or abandoned by the caller due to wait times.

From BBC

"Our model can automate that process, triage the routine cases, and highlight anything unusual for human review."

From Science Daily