Which color code indicates a patient who is dead or likely to die?

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

Answer: (D)

In mass casualty triage, color coding is used to quickly sort patients by how urgent their needs are and how likely they are to benefit from treatment. Black indicates someone who is dead or whose survival is unlikely even with care, so responders can shift scarce resources to those who can still be saved. The other colors map to different priorities: red for immediate life-threatening injuries that require rapid treatment, yellow for injuries that are urgent but can wait a bit, and green for minor injuries. So the color that signals death or near-certain death is black.