[Triage of the injured in military surgery and in exceptional situations]

Sorting casualties is universally accepted as the best means of coordinating a large number of patients with war injuries. Sorting means classifying casualties by characteristic medical and health features according to three types of criteria: diagnosis: gravity of the injury; prognosis: predictable survival; and logistic: evaluation of demand for care and possibilities for evaluation. The sorting process may be systematic or selective. The rules applied in different war situations or in civilian catastrophies vary according to the emergency care system which is called in (French Army, NATO, International Red Cross, GNO). The current role of the intensive care physician as a sorter is underlined. More than a doctrine, surgical sorting is a concept of action to be understood.