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	TEDDY BEAR TRIAGE FOR CERT Michelle R. Hale Fire & Life Safety, Emergency Management Office, Kent, Washington The City of Kent Fire & Life Safety Department began providing emergency response training workshops to school representatives in 1994. The four-hour school workshops evolved into the FEMA Community Emergency Response Team Program. The goal of Kent's CERT Program is to prepare citizens, city employees, school and business personnel to take care of themselves, their loved ones, coworkers, students, neighbors and the community following a major disaster.
Kent Fire & Life Safety brought together instructors from their suppression, emergency management, fire prevention, hazardous materials and public education divisions to creatively teach CERT members with an emphasis on hands-on training and fun. In the Disaster Medical portion of our CERT and School Programs, training is provided on the sorting of patients utilizing the S.T.A.R.T. Triage System (Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment).
	Emergency responders in King County use colored surveyors’ tape to classify and sort patients. Red is classified as “critical, needing immediate treatment”; Yellow is “injured but can delay treatment”; Green is “minor or no injuries”; and Black is classified as “dead or mortally injured”. To help the participants understand the emergency response philosophy of doing the "*Greatest good for the greatest number of people*," instructors utilize teddy bears to practice with. Each bear has a different symptom on a laminated card tied around its neck, with the correct classification identified by a color appropriate dot on the back.
Our little bear here has been classified as a “Green”. A green dot on the back of his symptom card confirms the student’s diagnosis. Notice the green tape! Lucky Bear!
This type of training is non-threatening, a lot of fun, and gives participants the opportunity to practice as a team to rapidly determine a systematic approach to caring for patients. According to participant evaluations, this use of donated bears has been another successful component added to a very valuable program that they enjoy being part of. For additional information or to find out more about the City of Kent's Community Emergency Response Team Program, contact the Emergency Management Office.
Another idea: Toy Town Rugs are great for tabletop exercises!

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