Prehospital trauma care developed over the last decades parallel in many countries. Most of the prehospital emergency medical systems relied on input or experiences from military medicine and were often modeled after the existing military procedures. Some systems were initially developed with the trauma patient in mind, while other systems were tailored for medical, especially cardiovascular, emergencies. The key components to successful prehospital trauma care are the well-known ABCs of trauma care: Airway, Breathing, Circulation. Establishing and securing the airway, ventilation, fluid resuscitation, and in addition, the quick transport to the best-suited trauma center represent the pillars of trauma care in the field. While ABC in trauma care has neither been challenged nor changed, new techniques, tools and procedures have been developed to make it easier for the prehospital provider to achieve these goals in the prehospital setting and thus improve the outcome of trauma patients.

Injury is the fourth leading cause of death in the US, and the leading cause of death in younger age. Trauma is primarily a disease of the young and accounts for more years of productive life lost than any other illness. Consequently, almost every health care provider encounters trauma patients from time to time. Many of these patients are critically ill and pose several challenges in the acute phase, including airway and ventilation, fluid management, intracranial pressure control, etc. In the last decade, several strategies and treatment options have been studied in trauma care along with improvement in technologies. In this review, we will discuss a few of the new developments and updates in trauma care.