In START triage, a patient with respirations greater than 30 per minute after airway opening is categorized as which color?

• A. Green
• B. Red
• C. Yellow
• D. Black

Answer: (B)

In START triage, a patient who is breathing more than 30 times a minute after you open the airway is in immediate danger and needs rapid intervention. The system prioritizes who gets treated first by quickly checking airway/breathing, circulation, and mental status. A high breathing rate after opening the airway signals significant respiratory distress or potential deterioration, so that patient is given the red category—immediate attention and rapid transport to save life. Other colors are for less urgent needs: those who can walk and have stable breathing are green or yellow depending on perfusion and mentation, and those without any chance of recovery are black. The key idea is that a fast, uncompensated breathing rate after airway management means immediate action is required.