TABLE OF CONTENTS As with most projects, the Process Improvement will be accomplished with the least amount of staff as possible. In order to be successful, the limited resources must be efficiently utilized with the goal to tackle the most important work as realistically as possible. For an accelerated Process Improvement effort, besides limited resources there is limited time. The key is to get the effort complete in short, succinct accelerated phases or cycles with time being measured in "internet- time," which is typically three to six months. The goal is to maximize the amount of work accomplished in the least amount of time. That's where triage plays an important role.
Triage is from an old French word, trier, which means "to sort". It has been used in the treatment of patients, especially battle and disaster victims, according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors. Baron Dominique Jean Larrey, a famous French surgeon in Napoleon's army, is credited with the practice. He devised a method of quickly evaluating and categorizing soldiers that were wounded in battle. Baron Larrey would evacuate wounded soldiers that required the most urgent medical attention during actual battle with no regard for their rank.
In triage, patients are divided into three to five categories. Depending upon the method used the categories vary. Based on a typical three-category method the following categories may be used:
Those who will not survive even with treatment.
Those who will survive without treatment.
