Pre-hospital care--current concepts

After a brief outline of past developments in the training of ambulance personnel, this paper traces the adoption in the UK of Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) courses from the US. The 1991 World Student Games in Sheffield, UK led to liaison between training staff from South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance and Paramedic Service (SYMAPS) and from Western New York Medical Training Institute. As a result, the trauma care policy of SYMAPS was altered from aiming to stabilise the patient at the scene of the accident to emphasising rapid and thorough assessment, packaging and transport. This is a resume of the scope of the PHTLS provider course. The course concentrates on the principles of PHTLS for the multisystems trauma victim.