In emergency medicine, triage is a process of:

A. Providing emotional support to patients and their families during emergencies: Emotional support is important but is not the definition of triage. B. Performing surgical procedures on patients with life-threatening injuries: Surgery is part of treatment, not triage. Triage precedes intervention. C. Assessing and prioritizing patients based on the severity of their condition: This is the correct definition of triage. It allows limited resources to be used efficiently by treating the most urgent cases first. D. Administering medication to patients in critical condition: Medication administration may be part of treatment, but triage is about assessment and prioritization, not interventions.