Trauma: The Golden Hour Dennis Kim md frcs(C)

Trauma: The Golden Hour

• Dennis Kim MD FRCS(C)

• General Surgery

• Trauma & Critical Care POS Core Lecture Series

• February 17 2009

Objectives

• concept of a golden hour

• pathophysiology of shock in the trauma patient

• resuscitation according to ATLS principles

• overview
• specifics

The Golden Hour

• originated by R Adams Cowley

• first sixty minutes after the occurrence of multi-system trauma

• victim's chances of survival are greatest if they receive definitive care in the OR within the first hour after a severe injury

The Golden Hour

• recently, the validity of the “golden hour” as a rigidly defined timeframe scrutinized

• core principle of rapid intervention in trauma cases remains universally accepted

The Golden Hour

• "There is a golden hour between life and death. If you are critically injured you have less than 60 minutes to survive. You might not die right then; it may be three days or two weeks later -- but something has happened in your body that is irreparable."

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