The Learning Umbrella

Triage (/ˈtɹiːɑːʒ/) is a process of prioritizing patients based on the severity of his/her condition as to treat as many as possible when resources are insufficient for all to be treated. The term comes from the French word triage, meaning “sorting process.” There are two types of triage: simple triage and advanced triage.

If you just substitute the word “children” for “patients” you have a working definition of what I do each day.  Although I am not (thankfully!) presented with a mass “casualty”, like we drilled for in the National Guard, I frequently encounter a “mass meltdown”.  The process for dealing with a “mass meltdown” goes something like this:

1.  Before attending to any one child, quickly check the status of all children (and yourself).

2.  Remember that the loudest child may not be the one in the most need of attention.  Be especially wary of the child that is off by themselves making no noise at all.

3.  Try to “stabilize” as many children as quickly as you can. If that means turning on the TV - do it.  Bottles, cups of juice, snacks, special toys - all of these can also be used as quick stabilizing devices that let you move on to the next child.

4.  Use the “walking wounded/older children” to help as much as they can.  Ask them to hold a bottle for a baby, or go get something, or play peek-a-boo with their sister.

5.  Try to keep yourself calm and somewhat detached from the emotions - projecting calm authority can bring the anxiety level down.

6.  If you can, call for help.  But face it - there’s hardly ever any help there.

7.  After you have stabilized everyone, go back around and look for underlying conditions.  Are we hungry?  Do we need a nap?  Does anyone need their diaper changed?  Did anyone have an accident, either physical or bathroom related?  If there are no obvious sources of the sudden, contagious meltdown, go with “in need of calm attention” and simply gather everyone together for some calm activity like coloring or reading out loud.

8.  Be sure and put yourself on your list of “patients”.  If you “crash”, who will help the others?  Remember the airplane safety rule - put your own mask on before assisting others.