ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION The fact that rural populations differ from urban populations in demographic and health characteristics explains in part why there are unique demands and challenges associated with the provision of prehospital care in rural, mountainous, oceanic, and other remote areas. There are so many region-specific issues and varieties of services that a search for concrete guidelines is often futile. A brief tour of a few emergency medical services (EMS) that deal with rural and remote trauma may prove insightful, but in no way represent the spectrum of rural trauma or its management worldwide.
