The CDC, in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), has released its Recommendations and Reports on the 2011 Guidelines (2011 Guidelines) for Field Triage of Injured Patients.

The 2011 Guidelines are an update of the guidance recommended in the 2006 Guidelines for Field Triage of Injured Patients, published as Reports and Recommendations of the Expert Panel in the MMWR in 2009.

Read the recommendations here.  

The National Expert Panel on Field Triage periodically reevaluates the Guidelines, determining if the decision criteria are consistent with current scientific evidence and compatible with advances in technology. This new version provides changes to the decision scheme for EMS providers who care for and transport patients injured from motor vehicle crashes, falls, penetrating injuries, and other injury mechanisms each day in our nation’s communities.

To date, the 2011 Guidelines have been endorsed by 37 organizations, the Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services, and have concurrence from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The 2011 Guidelines are based upon current medical literature, the experience of multiple states and communities working to improve field triage, and the expert opinion of Panel members. This guidance is intended to help prehospital care providers make critical decisions that have been demonstrated to increase the likelihood of improved outcomes in severely injured trauma patients.

Richard C. Hunt, MD, FACEP, director of the Division of Injury Response, announced the release of the 2011 Guidelines today at the National Association for Emergency Medical Services Physicians annual meeting in Tucson, Ariz. on January 12. 

Hunt had addressed the Guidelines at NAEMT's Scott B. Frame Memorial Lecture on August 31, 2011, at EMS World Expo, where he described the development, dissemination, implementation and evaluation of these CDC guidelines, and successes and challenges in the journey to make a difference in the outcomes of trauma patients throughout our nation.

For more information about CDC′s work in field triage, please visit www.cdc.gov/Fieldtriage.