๐ Reading Time, 9 minutes Although the ideal fluid for resuscitation of trauma patients is blood, in most austere and tactical settings, particularly outside of military Special Operations, IV crystalloids are still used. Even with hypotensive resuscitation strategies, providing IVF …
MARCH: Massive Hemorrhage, Airway, Respiration, Circulation, Hypothermia Prevention
The easy to remember mnemonic MARCH reminds us of the priorities in treating casualties during TECC and TCCC situations. MARCH provides a framework to address immediate life threats and gives an organized approach to begin a casualty evaluation.ย The MARCH mnemonic is preferable to the ABCDE model because it takes into consideration the reason you need an airway and to be breathing is to circulate blood to the casualty’s brain. Recognizing that, the first step in our casualty evaluation should be to look for massive hemorrhage.
Once past massive hemorrhage, A-R-C is loosely approximated by A-B-C. H- is a reminder that a large number of traumatic casualties arrive at the emergency department or medical treatment facility hypothermic which dramatically increases their death rate.
The MARCH mnemonic can be applied to any patient, as the initial casualty evaluation usually rules out massive hemorrhage.
๐ Reading Time, 2 minutes Using IDF trauma and long-term disability databases from 1997 to 2021, researchers reviewed 19 surgical cricothyrotomies performed prehospital by paramedics or MDs (using a 6 mm Portex tracheostomy tube and scalpel) compared to 81 endotracheal …
A recent French article voiced a concern for overzealous pre-hospital tourniquet use; the data is not as supportive of their conclusions as the article makes it seem. ๐ Reading Time, 9 minutes During the December 2024 Committee for Tactical Emergency …
Very little has changed or improved in MCI triage in 40 years ๐ Reading Time, 12 minutes In 1986, an article was published discussing โnew concepts in triage.โ1 The authors identified three areas of concern: Difficulties performing triage at an …
Estimating burn size is not just a technical detail; itโs a critical component of effective burn management. Mis-estimation results in over or under-transfer to burn centers, inappropriate patient treatment, unnecessary healthcare costs, and miscalculations of IV fluid volume needed for …
A growing body of literature shows EtCO2 levels closely and inversely correlate with venous lactate, a marker of anaerobic metabolism. BLUF: Operationally, if your trauma patient has an EtCO2