BACKGROUND The goal of this study was to examine PHTLS Provider courses in Germany and to proof the assumption that formation of physicians and paramedics in prehospital trauma care can be optimized. METHODS PHTLS participants were asked to fill out standardized questionnaires during their course preparation and directly after the course. There were some open questions regarding their profess...

Since their introduction over 40 years ago, paramedics have been trained to deliver select advanced life support interventions in the community with the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease and trauma. The ensuing decades witnessed a great deal of interest in paramedic care, with an exponential growth in prehospital resuscitation research. As part of the CJEM ser...

Emergency medical services (EMS) systems, and prehospital care are difficult to evaluate. Accordingly, the true efficacy and value of such systems are difficult to determine. The multitude of variations and combinations of involved factors makes standardisation and comparison difficult, and universal indicators are hard to develop. Various attempts have been made to determine valid indicators o...

Prehospital ultrasound has been deployed in certain areas of the USA and Europe. Physicians, emergency medical technicians, and flight nurses have utilized a variety of medical and trauma ultrasound assessments to impact patient care in the field. The goal of this review is to summarize the literature on emergency medical services (EMS) use of ultrasound to more clearly define the potential uti...

BACKGROUND The objective is to determine the rate of preventable mortality and the volume and nature of opportunities for improvement (OFI) in care for cases of traumatic death occurring in the state of Utah. METHODS A retrospective case review of deaths attributed to mechanical trauma throughout the state occurring between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2005, was conducted. Cases were rev...

BACKGROUND Although early intubation to prevent the mortality that accompanies hypoxia is considered the standard of care for severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), the efficacy of this approach remains unproven. METHODS Patients with moderate to severe TBI (Head/Neck Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] score 3+) were identified from our county trauma registry. Logistic regression was used to explor...

INTRODUCTION The Revised Trauma Score is used worldwide in the prehospital setting and provides a snapshot of patient's physiological state. Several studies have shown that the reliability of the RTS is high in trauma outcomes. In the Netherlands, Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) are mostly used for delivery of specialized trauma teams on-scene and occasionally for patient transport...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have suggested that prehospital spine immobilization provides minimal benefit to penetrating trauma patients but takes valuable time, potentially delaying definitive trauma care. We hypothesized that penetrating trauma patients who are spine immobilized before transport have higher mortality than nonimmobilized patients. METHODS We performed a retrospective analysi...