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Triage of Patients with Cutaneous Burns Only During Mass Casualty Scenario

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In mass burn situations, some casualties may be too gravely injured to warrant full resuscitation and support. The following table may be used in conjunction with clinical assessment and guidance from a Burn Center. In all cases, patients should be provided with appropriate medications for comfort even if other interventions are not warranted based on the prognosis. Table reflects SURVIVABILITY – so ‘very high’ is excellent prognosis.

Definitions

Survivable	Survivable and good outcome expected without requiring initial admission.
Very High	Survival with good outcomes highly expected.
High	Survival and good outcomes expected with limited/short term initial admission and resource allocation (LOS less than or equal to 14 days. 1-2 surgical procedures)
Medium	Survival and good outcomes with aggressive care and comprehensive resource allocation, including initial admission (greater than/equal to 14 days), resuscitation, and multiple surgeries.
Low	Survival and good outcome low even with long-term, aggressive treatment and resource allocation.
Very low	Survival and outcome poor even with unlimited resources.
Expectant	Survival less than 10% even with unlimited, aggressive treatment.

**Survival rate by age and total percent of body surface area burned (+ 10 for inhalation injury)**
	0-10%	11-20%	21-30%	31-40%	41-50%	51-60%	61-70%	71-80%	81-90%	91-100%
<2 years of age	Very high	Very high	Very high	High	Medium	Medium	Medium	Low	Low	Very low
2-5 years of age	Survivable	Very high	Very high	High	High	High	Medium	Medium	Low	Low
5-19 years of age	Survivable	Very high	Very high	High	High	High	Medium	Medium	Low	Low
20-29 years of age	Survivable	Very high	Very high	High	High	Medium	Medium	Low	Low	Very low
30-39 years of age	Survivable	Very high	Very high	High	Medium	Medium	Medium	Low	Low	Very low
40-49 years of age	Survivable	Very high	Very high	Medium	Medium	Medium	Low	Very low	Very low	Expectant
50-59 years of age	Survivable	Very high	Very high	Medium	Medium	Low	Very low	Very low	Expectant	Expectant
60-69 years of age	Very high	Very high	Medium	Medium	Low	Very low	Very low	Expectant	Expectant	Expectant
70+ years of age	Very high	Medium	Medium	Low	Very low	Expectant	Expectant	Expectant	Expectant	Expectant

Courtesy of the American Burn Association.