Which term is applied to reduce potential harm before an event occurs?

• A. Emergency
• B. Triage
• C. Mitigation
• D. Recovery

Answer: (C)

Mitigation involves actions taken to lessen potential harm before something happens. It includes preventive measures, safety planning, and controls designed to reduce either the likelihood of an adverse event or its impact. In patient care and surgical settings, this means things like proper sterilization, equipment checks, clear safety protocols, staff training, use of checklists, and safety barriers that prevent problems from arising.

Emergency, triage, and recovery describe responses at different times: emergency refers to the event itself requiring immediate action; triage is prioritizing treatment during the event; recovery focuses on returning to normal after the event. Since the goal here is reducing harm before it occurs, mitigation is the best fit.