Final answer:
Step 2 of Trauma Field Triage involves assessing the severity of the trauma and determining the appropriate level of care needed by the patient.
Step-by-step explanation:
Step 2 of Trauma Field Triage involves assessing the severity of the trauma and determining the appropriate level of care needed by the patient. This step helps to prioritize patients and allocate resources effectively.
During this step, medical professionals evaluate the patient's vital signs, the mechanism of injury, and the injuries themselves to make an initial determination of the severity of the trauma. They consider factors such as the patient's level of consciousness, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and signs of major bleeding.
Based on this assessment, the patient may be categorized into one of three tiers: immediate (red), delayed (yellow), or minimal or expectant (green). Immediate patients require immediate life-saving interventions, while delayed patients can tolerate a delay in treatment, and minimal or expectant patients have injuries that are unlikely to respond to initial interventions.