Teaching-learning in pre-hospital care for trauma patients

Abstract

A commentary analyzes the 9th edition of the PHTLS manual – Prehospital Trauma Life Support, released in Brazil in 2020 by NAEMT. Established as the main global reference for emergency professionals — including nurses, physicians, and firefighters — the work is structured into six sections and 22 chapters covering everything from trauma kinematics to management in disasters and remote areas. The text highlights the main update of this edition: the transition from the ABCDE mnemonic to XABCDE, prioritizing the control of severe external hemorrhages (X) as the initial step of the primary assessment. Although the work excels at substantiating the "what" and "why" of critical thinking-based practices, the review notes gaps in the detailed description of how to perform certain procedures, suggesting the use of complementary references. It concludes that PHTLS remains essential for technical qualification and efficiency in contemporary prehospital care.