Emergency Medical Minute

Contributor: Meghan Hurley MD Educational Pearls: What is ATLS? Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) is a systematic and comprehensive approach to the evaluation and management of trauma patients It was developed by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) The key components include the Primary Survey ("ABCDE"), the Secondary Survey, Definitive Care, and Special Considerations What are the issues with ATLS? ATLS relies on many algorithms and rules-of-thumb, which might be helpful for individuals with basic skills and training but might actually present obstacles for those with higher levels of training. Dr. Hurley cites several examples. Example 1: ABC approach to trauma patients ABC stands for Airway, Breathing, and Circulation but focusing on the airway first is not always the best decision. Immediate attention may need to be applied to massive hemorrhage. Intubating a patient that is hemodynamically unstable may cause cardiac arrest. A more helpful phrase might be “Resuscitate before you i