The Casualty Card is a field triage and patient record tool for first responders, defence medics, paramedics and clinicians. It gives you a structured format to capture what happened, what you found, and what you did, so the next provider in the chain can pick up care without losing time.
What is a casualty card? A casualty card is a compact written record carried with or attached to a patient during pre-hospital care. It documents identification, mechanism of injury, primary survey findings, interventions and ongoing observations, and travels with the patient through the evacuation chain.
Key features:
- Mechanism of injury: record the cause and nature of injuries to give context for clinical decisions.
- Patient details: capture identification and relevant medical history in the notes section.
- Primary survey: structured fields so critical findings are not missed.
- Ongoing assessments: dedicated space for repeat observations and trending vitals.
- Rule of 9's BSA tool: assess burn body surface area to guide fluid and treatment decisions.
- Secure to patient: designed to stay attached through movement and handover.
Casualty cards suit military first aid kits, IFAKs, ambulance response bags, tactical medicine training and workplace emergency teams. Use them alongside your standard trauma protocols to keep documentation consistent across responders.