Triage Tag Colors

Red Tag

Emergent (class I) : immediate threat to life, do not delay treatment

ex. airway obstruction, shock

Yellow Tag

Urgent (class II) : major injuries that require treatment, can delay treatments 30 min to 2 hours

ex. Open fracture with a distal pulse

Green Tag

Non-urgent (class III) : minor injuries that do not require immediate treatment, can delay treatment 2-4 hours

ex. Contusions, closed fracture

Black Tag

Expectant (class IV) : expected and allowed to die, prepare for morgue

ex. Massive head trauma, cardiac arrest

airway obstruction

red tag

walking wounded

green tag

requires immediate attention

red tag

closed fracture

green tag

shock

red tag

expected and allowed to die

black tag

contusions

green tag

massive head trauma

black tag

need treatment within 20min to 2hrs

yellow tag

cardiac arrest

black tag

open fracture with distal pulse

yellow tag

treatment can be delayed more than 2 hours

green tag