What it means
Responders sort each person in under a minute using four checks: can they walk, are they breathing, how is their blood flow, and can they follow simple commands. People are tagged by color: green for minor (walking wounded), yellow for delayed, red for immediate and black for those who are dead or not expected to survive. A version for children is called JumpSTART.
For the nurse
In START, red (immediate) goes to anyone breathing more than 30 times a minute, with no radial pulse or a capillary refill over 2 seconds, or who cannot follow simple commands. A person not breathing after the airway is opened is tagged black. Unlike everyday triage, the aim is to do the most good for the most people.
Related terms
triage
Sorting clients by how urgently they need care, to decide who is seen first.