ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION The first hour of trauma care has been described as the ‘‘golden hour’’ [1], and many severely injured patients spend almost three-quarters of this hour in the prehospital phase. This golden hour concept has more recently been augmented by the idea of the ‘‘platinum ten minutes’’ [2], which is the pivotal time for airway care and prevention of traumatic exsanguination. During these first few minutes the basic essentials of airway (with cervical immobilization), breathing, and circulation with hemorrhage control must be rapidly assessed and optimized. It has been suggested that the main aim of the prehospital process is to ensure that the lungs are working effectively, which will allow the ultimate goal of adequate tissue oxygenation.
