This section gives an introduction to triage with a purely wound-management focus. See our “Emergency and Critical Care” course for a more detailed overview of triage and stabilisation.
Wounded animals must be triaged to determine the most urgent problem. A nasty maggot-infested wound may seem like the primary issue, however, life-threatening comorbidities like hypovolaemia may also be present, and require treatment first. Triage involves a major body system assessment, which determines treatment priorities (i.e. hypovolaemia treatment before a wound). Once this systems assessment has been performed, stabilisation (analgesia, oxygen therapy, IV fluids) may be performed.