Hypothermia in trauma victims at first arrival of ambulance personnel: an observational study with assessment of risk factors.

Background: Hypothermia is common in trauma victims and is associated with increased mortality, however its causes are little known. The objective of this study was to identify the risk factors associated with hypothermia in prehospital management of trauma victims.

Methods: This was an ancillary analysis of data recorded in the HypoTraum study, a prospective multicenter study conducted by the emergency medical services (EMS) of 8 hospitals in France.

Risk factors for onset of hypothermia in trauma victims: the HypoTraum study.

Introduction: Hypothermia is common in trauma victims and is associated with an increase in mortality. Its causes are not well understood. Our objective was to identify the factors influencing the onset of hypothermia during pre-hospital care of trauma victims.

Difficult Airway Management Algorithm in Emergency Medicine: Do Not Struggle against the Patient, Just Skip to Next Step.

We report a case of prehospital "cannot intubate" and "cannot ventilate" scenarios successfully managed by strictly following a difficult airway management algorithm. Five airway devices were used: the Macintosh laryngoscope, the gum elastic Eschmann bougie, the LMA Fastrach, the Melker cricothyrotomy cannula, and the flexible fiberscope. Although several airway devices were used, overall airway management duration was relatively short, at 20 min, because for each scenario, failed primary and secondary backup devices were quickly abandoned after 2 failed attempts, each attempt of no more than 2 min in duration, in favor of the tertiary rescue device.