During a mass casualty incident (MCI), which of the following actions should the nurse prioritize?

Rationale: A. In a mass casualty incident, immediate action is required. Waiting for instructions could delay life-saving interventions and compromise patient outcomes. Nurses and first responders must act quickly based on established triage protocols. B. While individualized care is ideal in standard clinical settings, during an MCI it is not practical due to limited resources and the number of patients. The focus must be on rapid assessment and stabilization of those most critically injured. C. The priority in a mass casualty incident is to quickly assess and categorize patients based on the severity of injuries using triage systems like START (Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment). This ensures that life-saving resources are allocated to those who are most likely to benefit and prevents preventable deaths. D. Equal allocation without regard to injury severity can result in critically injured patients not receiving timely care, increasing mortality. Resource allocation in MCIs is based on medical need and survivability, not equality.