ABSTRACT
Major improvements have been made in the emergency medical services over the last 30 years. This has produced improved prehospital care, shorter on-scene times, and rapid transport of trauma victims to hospitals. Many severely injured trauma patients that would have died at the scene are now being quickly transported to trauma centers in impending or full cardiopulmonary arrest. Multiple new, invasive, and aggressive measures are being used in an attempt to save these patients’ lives. No procedure is more aggressive or invasive than the emergency room resuscitative thoracotomy.
