Fluid resuscitation and circulatory support: Use of pneumatic antishock garment

The prehospital phase of acute trauma management remains at the forefront of intense scientific investigation and critical evaluation. With rapid advances in the practice of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), advanced life support (ALS) interventions in the field are increasingly being weighed against the goal of rapid transport to appropriate trauma centers and definitive care. Interventions whose benefits are merely speculative or anecdotal at best are no longer acceptable when considered at the expense of increased out-of-hospital time. Within this context, the prehospital use of the pneumatic antishock garment (PASG) continues to be the focus of long-standing medical controversy.