Ten Second Triage apnoeic casualty — DIPIMC MCQ

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HardMajor Incident ManagementTen Second Triage apnoeic casualtyDIPIMC DipIMC

At a major incident you reach an adult casualty who is not moving. After opening the airway with a single manoeuvre, the casualty is still not breathing. Under the Ten Second Triage tool, how should this casualty be categorised?

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Correct answer: B — Dead, being apnoeic after one airway manoeuvre

In major-incident primary triage the aim is rapid sorting, not full resuscitation of the first casualty encountered. After confirming the casualty is not walking/talking and has no effective breathing, the only immediate airway intervention is to open the airway once if able. If the adult remains apnoeic after that manoeuvre, they are not allocated P1, P2 or P3 and you move on to triage casualties with potentially salvageable life-threatening injury. Therefore, among the options given, the correct category is Dead; CPR is not started at once as part of the initial triage pass.

Reference: NHS England. Ten Second Triage tool. Published 2023, last updated 4 August 2025. https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/ten-second-triage-tool/