Military surgeons have played a fundamental role in the development of current civilian surgical triage. Recognition of patients requiring urgent medical intervention and the allocation of resources is an integral part of providing efficient and effective patient care. The first triage system was developed by Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey (1766-1842), a French army surgeon, who rose to the position of surgeon-in-chief of Napolean’s Grande Armée (French Imperial Army). He dictated that those “dangerously wounded receive attention first without regard to rank or distinction”. In 1846 British Naval Surgeon John Wilson advocated to first treat those requiring immediate intervention in which intervention is likely to be successful. Stemming from the concept of the greatest good for the greatest number. The first civilian triage system was published in 1964 and with military triage concepts of assessment and intervention remaining in surgical triage today. Emergency surgery accounts for up to 45% of the surgery delivered in public hospitals. To accommodate an increase in surgical demand, limited resources, and growing patient expectations continued civilian surgical triage evolution is necessary. Emergency surgery access guidelines in Australia are state based, but consistently schedule according to patient clinical situation, and potential ramifications of delay, without influence by perceived or actual availability of resources. Reflection on the military origins of surgical triage helps inform the principles of current triage systems, given the similarities to resource limitations. This will help avoid forgetting lessons learnt and assisting in ongoing improvement of civilian emergency surgical triage systems.