Background: Multiple trauma in mountain environments may be associated with increased morbidity and mortality compared to urban environments.
Objective: To provide evidence based guidance to assist rescuers in multiple trauma management in mountain environments.
Eligibility criteria: All articles published on or before September 30th 2019, in all languages, were included. Articles were searched with predefined search terms.
Sources of evidence: PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and hand searching of relevant studies from the reference list of included articles.
Charting methods: Evidence was searched according to clinically relevant topics and PICO questions.
Results: Two-hundred forty-seven articles met the inclusion criteria. Recommendations were developed and graded according to the evidence-grading system of the American College of Chest Physicians. The manuscript was initially written and discussed by the coauthors. Then it was presented to ICAR MedCom in draft and again in final form for discussion and internal peer review. Finally, in a face-to-face discussion within ICAR MedCom consensus was reached on October 11th 2019, at the ICAR fall meeting in Zakopane, Poland.
Conclusions: Multiple trauma management in mountain environments can be demanding. Safety of the rescuers and the victim has priority. A crABCDE approach, with haemorrhage control first, is central, followed by basic first aid, splinting, immobilisation, analgesia, and insulation. Time for on-site medical treatment must be balanced against the need for rapid transfer to a trauma centre and should be as short as possible. Reduced on-scene times may be achieved with helicopter rescue. Advanced diagnostics (e.g. ultrasound) may be used and treatment continued during transport.
Keywords: Advanced Trauma Life Support; analgesia; emergency medical services; first aid; haemorrhage; multiple trauma; shock, triage; wounds and injuries.