Environmental Triage

The term triage comes from the French, meaning “to sort.” It was used during the Napoleonic Wars to sort out French casualties into three categories:

· Those who are unlikely to live, no matter what care they receive

· Those for whom immediate care might make a difference in outcome

· Those who are likely to live, regardless of what care they receive

During World War I, the practice of triage was further refined as the result of improvements in medical and surgical capabilities, but the underlying principles remained the same: there were more injuries than medical personnel available to treat them, so the most urgent cases were seen first, with less-serious cases reserved for later treatment. In some cases, there were “lost cause” soldiers who could not be saved, no matter what was done for them. Regrettably, but necessarily, they were left to die.

Today, we are dealing with the most serious catastrophe of all, the Sixth Mass Extinction. This appears to be directly tied into the environmental disasters associated with HIPPO, which among ecologists stands for: Habitat destruction, Invasive species, Population, Pollution, and Overharvesting (factors endangering species).

Triage implies having a plan of treatment, which suggests that we have a good understanding of what is most…