Advanced Trauma Life Support
Advanced Trauma Life Support
Some interns take the ATLS course
Some newly minted doctors have to take the ATLS course before internship. ATLS stands for Advanced Trauma Life Support.
For example, Surgery and Emergency Medicine residents have to take the exam before their intern year.
TOPICS
The ATLS course covers several topics you will need to know to manage trauma victims. The topics include:
- Initial assessment and management
- Airway and ventilatory management
- Shock
- Thoracic trauma
- Abdominal and pelvic trauma
- Head trauma
- Spine and spinal cord trauma
- Musculoskeletal trauma
- Thermal injuries
- Pediatric trauma
- Geriatric trauma
- Trauma in women
- Transfer to definitive care
- The ATLS book also includes summaries on: injury prevention, biomechanics of injury, trauma scores, sample trauma flow sheet, tetanus immunization, ocular trauma, military casualty care, trauma care in underdeveloped areas, trauma care following catastrophes, disaster management and emergency preparedness, triage scenarios
QUICK TIPS
Things to do before the course
- Review the ATLS book
- Complete the pretest
- Review the case scenarios
Things to keep in mind
- Please take the course seriously as some people end up failing it.
- You cannot get access to the old exams because they are well guarded.
- You must read ahead of time if you plan to pass the written exam at the end of the course.
Categorised as: ATLS