Intensive Care Medicine (or Critical Care the terms are used interchangeably) is an evolving
specialty both within the UK and worldwide. It has recently been established as a UK speciality
in it's own right and is at the centre of the modern acute hospital responsible for managing
the sickest and most complex patients. There is a growing cadre of critical care specialists in
the UK underpinned by a large number of doctors in training within the specialty. Management
of patients with severe traumatic injury is provided by intensive care specialists often in
conjunction with a range of other professionals such as surgeons and interventional
radiologists. The management of these patients who have competing complex injuries can be
challenging. Traumatic injury is recognised as a significant cause of preventable mortality and
such patients are now clustered within Major Trauma Centres across the UK. The Defence Medical
Services of the UK have spent the last 10 years managing patients with very severe traumatic
injuries first in Iraq and most recently in Afghanistan. The lessons learnt from this
experience has filtered through to the NHS resulting in many changes to established practice.
Whilst several books have been published based on this experience none have focused on the
intensive care management of such patients which represents a vital link in the chain of
survival from injury to recovery.
