Hospital papers
What Does Triage Mean in Hospital?
Triage · say it: TREE-ahzhAlso written: triage category, triage level, acuity
Short answer
Triage is the process of sorting patients by how urgently they need care, so the most urgent are seen first.
What it means
Triage comes from a French word meaning "to sort". In emergency departments, urgent care centres and ambulance services, a trained nurse or clinician quickly assesses each person to decide how soon they need to be seen.
Many hospitals use a scale with several levels, often colour-coded or numbered, from most urgent to least urgent. The level is based on symptoms, vital signs and how unwell someone appears.
Triage is about priority, not about how important a person is. People may be re-triaged if their condition changes while they wait.
Where you may see it
- Emergency department records
- Ambulance and urgent care notes
- Hospital discharge summaries
📄 How it looks on a report
Triage category 3 (urgent).
🙅 What it does not mean
- A lower-priority triage level does not mean your problem is not real or important.
- It is not first come, first served. Someone arriving later may be seen first if more urgent.
- The triage level is not a diagnosis.
🗒️ Questions to ask your doctor
🧾 Reports where you will see “Triage”
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🔗 Read more from trusted sources
- “Triage” on MedlinePlus ↗
US National Library of Medicine
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General information about a medical word, not advice about your own results. Ask the clinician who ordered the test what it means for you.