A T WO - HOUR I NTERVENTION U SING START I MPROVES P REHOSPITAL T RIAGE OF M ASS C ASUALTY I NCIDENTS

Objective. There are few data concerning the ability of prehospital providers to triage patients in a mass casualty incident (MCI). The authors evaluated the effectiveness of a brief educational intervention on MCI triage with a written scenario and test. The START method (simple triage and rapid treatment) was used. Methods. The authors enrolled and tested 109 prehospital providers consisting of 31 paramedics and prehospital registered nurses (PHRNs) and 78 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and first responders. A written scenario of an MCI was used to test participants before, immediately after, and again at one month after a two-hour educational intervention consisting of a slide and video presentation utilizing START. Results. The 109 participants completed the pre-intervention and post-intervention test; 72 (66%) completed the one-month post-intervention as well. Mean work experience was 9 years (ranging from 1 to 27 years). The mean immediate post-test score (75% correct) was significantly improved compared with the mean pre-test score (55% correct) for the 109 providers completing both tests (p < 0.001). Among advanced life support providers (EMT-Ps and PHRNs) completing all three surveys, the mean immediate post-test score (76% correct) and mean one-month post-test score (75% correct) were not significantly different. Among the basic life support providers completing all three surveys, a modest but statistically significant decay in mean scores from immediate post-test (74% correct) to one-month post-test (68% correct) was observed (p < 0.01). Prior training in MCI had no statistically significant effect on changes in mean test scores. Conclusion. The ability of prehospital providers of all levels of training and experience to triage patients in an MCI is less than optimal. However, this ability improved dramatically after a single didactic session, and improvement persisted one month later.