Trauma team activation criteria and the trauma team

Introduction: It is recommended that the decision of the prehospital treatment team or the first in- clinic examiner should be based on a catalog of criteria as to whether a potentially severely injured patient should be admitted via the shock room of the hospital. The B criteria formulated in the S3 guideline 2016 for polytrauma on shock room alarms have recently been increasingly the subject of professional discussions. Materials andmethods: Against the background of the amendment of the S3 guideline on the treatment of polytrauma/severe injuries and on the basis of the current literature, the previous trauma team activation criteria are compared with the newly agreed recommendations. Results: Alerting the trauma roomteam is still recommended if a certain injury pattern is present or if prehospital intervention is necessary. However, the A criteria for trauma team activation could be revised and new ones even agreed upon. The B criteria based on the course of the accident or mechanism, which have recently been the subject of increasing criticism, have been significantly adjusted. The updated version of the guideline also contains recommendations for geriatric patients. Conclusion: Compared to the 2016 S3 guideline, the trauma team activation criteria were revised on the basis of new literature and have been included in the revised guideline. There is no doubt that further optimization-e.g., based on prehospital algorithms using point-of-care diagnostics-are possible and desirable in the future.