Nick Warren/melita/zaie One of the fundamental challenges of human existence is determining where our priorities lie. Unfortunately, Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, Surgeon in Chief to Napoleon's Imperial Guard, often found his lying on the ground. Operating frequently within the midst of mass casualty events at the turn of the 19th century, Larrey helped refine a system for prioritizing care for the wounded according to the severity of their injuries. The process that we now know as triage derives from a French word meaning "to break into three pieces" — originally that meant filtering groups who required 1) immediate, 2) urgent, or 3) non-urgent medical attention.