BTLS TRAUMA MANAGEMENT
BTLS - Basic Trauma life supporto
Basic Life Aid for the Traumatized Patient, also abbreviated as SVT (in English BTLS, Basic Trauma Life Support PTC, Pre-hospital Trauma Care), is a rescue technique for people who have suffered a trauma, that is, an event caused by a physical force that acts on the organism causing damage.
The BTLS – Basic Life Trauma Support course It is a fundamental course for all health emergency operators, suitable for doctors, nurses, volunteer rescuers and rescue drivers. The BTLS is a rescue protocol used by 118, with the aim of standardizing rescue procedures for traumatized patients in the pre-hospital phase.
The BTLS course involves teaching the mobilization and immobilization maneuvers of the traumatized patient, paying particular attention to the use of immobilization devices, such as spinal boards, cervical collars, etc., and the mobilization maneuvers (roll over, removal of the helmet, maneuver of Rautek, etc).
The objective of the course is to prevent or limit the patient's shock, and preserve the functionality of the cervical spine until hospitalization.
At the end of the course the participant will be able to recognize a patient who has suffered a trauma, perform the first rescue maneuvers, and use the devices correctly.
Furthermore, the course will teach you the rescue protocol and the first treatment of injured people who have suffered a trauma, that is, an event caused by a considerable amount of energy acting on the body causing damage. This type of aid is therefore aimed not only at injured people who have suffered road accidents, for example, but also at people who have drowned, been electrocuted, burned, or who have suffered gunshot wounds, since in all these cases the injuries are caused by the dissipation of energy on the body. We speak of polytrauma when a person has suffered trauma to more than one system. Even if a person has all four limbs broken, but the skin is not damaged and there are no injuries to vessels or nerves, it is therefore not polytrauma.
The time between the trauma event and the rescue is of great importance, since the shorter the time interval, the greater the possibility that the traumatized person will survive or in any case suffer the least possible amount of damage. The SVT indicates the concept of the golden hour, underlining how the time between the event and the centralization at a "trauma center" (centers equipped 24 hours a day to immediately carry out the necessary tests) must not be longer than 60 minutes, a limit beyond which there is a clear drop in the chances of a positive outcome.
The time between the trauma event and the rescue is of great importance, since the shorter the time interval, the greater the possibility that the traumatized person will survive or in any case suffer the least possible amount of damage. The SVT indicates the concept of the golden hour, underlining how the time between the event and the centralization at a "trauma center" (centers equipped 24 hours a day to immediately carry out the necessary tests) must not be longer than 60 minutes, a limit beyond which there is a clear drop in the chances of a positive outcome.
