Using Functional Needs and Personal Care Assistance Rather Than Disability Status During Chronic Care Triage in Community Mass Care.

Objective: To evaluate Medical Reserve Corps volunteers and public health workers in conducting chronic care triage by use of a rubric prior to sheltering to connect survivors with services.

Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 algorithms or a control group during a simulated disaster scenario and were asked to rate 20 survivors arriving at a chronic care triage station with situation-appropriate transport services. Survivors were simulated on the basis of the expected disability distributions of mobility, sensory-visual, cognition, medical devices, capacity to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), age (18 to 90 years), weight, and gender expected in the general population but expanded to 90% of those presenting.