Time is ticking until the Ten Second Triage deadline

As the NHS England deadline for all emergency services to adhere to the new system for major incident casualty triage draws near, services need to be prepared to use the NHS Ten Second Triage Tool to provide care for casualties prior to the arrival of the NHS clinical response.

Published in April 2023, the Ten Second Triage tool shows the recommended priority triage routes depending on incident characteristics. It then sets out the METHANE model – an established reporting framework which provides a common structure for responders and their control rooms to share incident information.

The triage tool was developed in response to a review of major incident triage undertaken by the NHS England Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response Clinical Reference Group. The findings of the review were presented in October 2022.

The tools have been available since April 2023 with full implementation and replacement of previous triage methodologies across the NHS expected by 30 June 2024.

Metafont Ltd is one example of a supplier that has developed triage bands as a means to label casualties in the immediate aftermath of an incident after the Ten Second Triage has been carried out.

These bands have been specially designed to denote the level of injury sustained by a casualty, so that they are treated according to clinical need when the NHS response arrives. With a steel core encased in reflective material, the bands are flexible to wrap – or slap – around a limb and can be pulled straight and used again multiple times.

The company also offers a bespoke carry bag with individual pockets for each triage band category, ensuring ease of storage and deployment in the field by first responders. When unrolled, it displays a printed panel of the Ten Second Triage algorithm to aid the user processing the triage, as well as a pen holder for use with the attached wipe-clean tally chart.

For more information on the Ten Second Triage Tool and access to a simple diagram to explain the process, visit the NHS England website.