Prehospital Fluid Administration in Trauma

Abstract

Emergency Medicine has become an accepted specialty in the medical community, and with the recognition has come the responsibility for those of us who teach and practice it to study our clinical practices. We must be satisfied that our clinical judgments are well- founded, not only in emergency departments, but also in our special role as providers of prehospital medical care. With the advent of trauma centers and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) training, the pivotal issues of the prehospital care of the trauma victim, and the timeliness of transporting these patients to appropriate receiving hospitals have resulted in a pair of recurring criticisms in the medical literature.