In a stable battlefield, avoid using austere surgical units to meet the golden hour of trauma time to care goal

Abstract

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) categorizes combat casualty care facilities according to their capabilities. Role 1 (R1) is the most basic and delivers primary care and basic resuscitation. A Role 2 (R2) facility has basic resuscitative and emergency surgical capability. Role 3 (R3) is generally the most comprehensive theatre medical asset with the most robust resources. In the United States, both the Army and the Marine Corps have R2s; the Army has the Forward Surgical Team (FST) while the Marine Corps has the Forward Resuscitative Surgical System (FRSS).