Les talks us through the primary survey in some special circumstances, some kit considerations and some human factors to think about.

Top 3 tips 

1)  Most importantly  when you are delivering the primary survey don’t get side tracked to non-life threatening issues 

2) Expect to repeat the primary survey at least once and probably more times, reassessment is crucial 

3) Practice, practice, practice 

Resources and links 

Experience in Prehospital Intubation Significantly Influences Mortality of Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141034.t003 

Prehospital endotracheal intubation vs extraglottic airway device in blunt trauma 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25963681/ 

The Impact of Prehospital Endotracheal Intubation on Outcome in Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury 

https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/Abstract/2005/05000/The_Impact_of_Prehospital_Endotracheal_Intubation.10.aspx 

Prehospital intubations and mortality: a level 1 trauma center perspective 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19608824/ 

Difficult Intubation due to Penetrating Trauma from a Crossbow Bolt 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32690309/ 

Management of the Traumatized Airway 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26517857/ 

Resident manual of Trauma to the Face, Head and Neck 

https://www.entnet.org/content/resident-manual-trauma-face-head-and-neck 

Systematic review of the anaesthetic management of non-iatrogenic acute adult airway trauma 

https://academic.oup.com/bja/article/117/suppl_1/i49/1744426 

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

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5402666/ 

When do trauma patients lose temperature? - a prospective observational study 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29315468/ 

Battlefield Trauma-Induced Hypothermia: Transitioning the Preferred Method of Casualty Rewarming 

https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(17)30097-2/fulltext#:~:text=Battlefield%20Trauma%2DInduced%20Hypothermia%3A%20Transitioning%20the%20Preferred%20Method%20of%20Casualty%20Rewarming,-Brad%20L.&text=For%20centuries%2C%20cold%20and%20wet,foot%2C%20frostbite%2C%20and%20hypothermia. 

Predictors of Hypothermia upon Trauma Center Arrival in Severe Trauma Patients Transported to Hospital via EMS 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332214670_Predictors_of_Hypothermia_upon_Trauma_Center_Arrival_in_Severe_Trauma_Patients_Transported_to_Hospital_via_EMS 

Biography: 

Les Gordon is an experienced anaesthetist, whose special interest is in difficult airway management, and he instructs on the national Training in Emergency Airway Management course for this.  He started Mountain Rescue eleven years ago in the Lake District and has attended about 450 rescues.  His special interest is accidental hypothermia, about which he has published several papers, written chapters in two books, given presentations at National and International conferences, and has drawn up and regularly updates Mountain Rescue England & Wales Hypothermia protocols