MEDICAL TRIAGE IN THE POST-COLD-WAR ERA

Military medicine is caught at the confluence of two major currents of change. The Department of Defense and the American system of health care are both undergoing major revisions. Triage was a key operational concept for patient care during the Cold War era. With the changed world situation, the author suggests new operational concepts including the relegation of triage to a marginal role in wartime care. The author argues that increasing the ratio of medical personnel to combat troops is consistent with a changed national perspective on wartime casualties.