triage

USAGE SUMMARY

The word 'triage' is a correct and usable word in written English.
You can use it to refer to the process of sorting victims, patients, or other individuals according to their medical needs in order of urgency. For example, "The triage team quickly sorted the injured victims according to the severity of their injuries."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Encyclopedias

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

60 human-written examples

Anita Bellows, of Disabled People Against Cuts, said: "The triage for advising whether a peer review is to be carried out is done by regional managers at seven regional centres, who may not have an interest in putting them forward.

The Guardian

The first is for patient contact and triage management applications, which are intended to be "a key enabler for NHS 24 to provide timely, safe and efficient patient clinical assessment, advice and referral services".

The Guardian

The other 12 occupants – six men and six women – required triage.

The Guardian

"I was in the area by chance and I went to Lukla and got involved in organising the triage for injured climbers coming down from base camp.

The Guardian

As well as providing basic health services such as triage, dentistry and obstetrics, the initiative allowed the organisation to identify and help those who are trafficked into the region to work as labourers or in the sex trade.

The Guardian

Since the referendum, and despite being on the winning side, Scottish Labour has been trailing in the polls behind the SNP, which has enjoyed an unprecedented surge in membership, while Murphy's party required triage following the resignation of Johann Lamont, who described Westminster colleagues as "dinosaurs" who treated Scotland as "a branch office".

The Guardian

Security for nurses in A&E has been one of my concerns and we have been given funding to rebuild the triage area where there are a number of security problems.

The Guardian

Other recommendations include: More training in triage of casualties.

The Guardian

It performs a triage into what works, what might be made to work, and what does not work.

The Economist

Even though most of the incoming intelligence may well be what is known as CRAPINT, the service is preparing to handle unprecedented volumes of material through a new sort of "leads triage" to determine priorities quickly.

The Economist

But careful triage of the particles enabled the researchers to triple the lifetime of the devices to more than 40 hours.These silicon quantum dots are not about to usurp those in Sony's new television their longevity and efficiency still leaves a lot to be desired and the team has yet to coax blue light from them.

The Economist

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When using "triage" outside of a medical context, ensure the audience understands the implicit sense of urgency and resource allocation.

Common error

Avoid using "triage" to describe everyday prioritization tasks; reserve it for scenarios involving limited resources and urgent needs to maintain its impact.

Linguistic Context

The primary grammatical function of "triage" is as a noun, referring to the process of sorting and prioritizing based on urgency, often in medical or emergency contexts. As Ludwig confirms, it can also function as a verb, meaning to perform this sorting process.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

48%

Independent

33%

The Economist

18%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

1%

The New Yorker

1%

Science

1%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "triage" is a versatile term, predominantly functioning as a noun but also as a verb, referring to the process of prioritizing based on urgency, primarily in medical or emergency contexts. As Ludwig highlights, it is grammatically correct and widely used. While its primary function is to convey a need for urgent and systematic evaluation, using it accurately requires understanding its implications of urgency and resource limitations. Remember that while ""prioritization"", ""assessment"", and ""screening"" can sometimes substitute "triage", it is important to consider the subtle differences in meaning and tone. The term's frequency is very common, mostly appearing in news and media sources, lending to its neutral-to-formal register.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

prioritization

Focuses specifically on the act of ordering items or tasks by importance.

assessment

Emphasizes the evaluation aspect of "triage", highlighting the process of judging the value or importance of something.

initial assessment

Specifies that the assessment is preliminary or the first step in a process.

screening

Implies a filtering process to identify key elements or individuals.

rapid assessment

Indicates a quick and efficient evaluation process.

sorting

Highlights the act of categorizing items into groups based on specific criteria.

preliminary screening

Highlights the early stage of a screening process, used to filter out obvious cases.

categorization

Similar to sorting, but emphasizes the creation of categories or classes.

critical evaluation

Emphasizes the importance of a detailed and unbiased evaluation.

evaluation

Focuses on the detailed analysis and judgment of something's worth.

FAQs

How to use "triage" in a sentence?

You can use "triage" to describe the process of prioritizing patients in a hospital emergency room or, metaphorically, to describe prioritizing tasks in a project. For example, "The doctor performed "triage" on the injured patients" or "We need to do "triage" on these bugs to decide which to fix first".

What can I say instead of "triage"?

Alternatives to "triage" include "prioritization", "assessment", or "screening", depending on the specific context.

Which is correct, "triage" or "performing triage"?

Both "triage" and "performing "triage"" can be correct, depending on the sentence structure. "Triage" can function as both a noun and a verb, so you could say either "The hospital uses a "triage" system" or "The doctors "triage" patients upon arrival".

What's the difference between "triage" and "prioritization"?

"Triage" typically implies a more urgent and critical sorting process than general "prioritization". "Prioritization" can be applied to various tasks and projects, while "triage" usually involves immediate and crucial decisions, often in situations with limited resources.