Many modern Triage systems include the use of vital sign parameters (e.g. level of consciousness, respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and body temperature) with defined cut-off levels to aid in the determination of an acuity level. This is accompanied by clinical descriptors; words or expressions used to describe a physiological condition or illness. These methods are the most predominant techniques used in modern Triage systems. In this context, although Emergency responders provide secure and safe societies by protecting the communities, responding to the disasters and rescuing lives, they often use inefficient, weak and obsolete technologies in the operations. INSTANT aims to rectify the fragmentation between civilian and military triage systems by i) analysing the strengths and weaknesses of each system currently in use throughout Europe and ii) proposing and designing a unified and modular Triage system, able to adapt to local needs and regulations in place.
With respect to the current situation, the operational capabilities of the emergency responders can be dramatically boosted by the advances in technology and engineering fields such as smart sensor systems, wearables, data processing, data fusion, data analytics, communication infrastructure, and artificial intelligence tools. Thus, it is a fact that, first responders need to be protected, connected, and fully aware of an emergency event so that they can efficiently and effectively save and rescue lives without also exposing their lives or the operation to risks.