Critical Trauma Skills and Procedures in the Emergency Department Jorge L. Falcon-Chevere, MD a, *, Joanna Mercado, MD, MSc a , Dana Mathew, MD b,c , Maria Uzcategui-Corder, MD a , Angelisse Almodovar, MD a , Evan Richards, MS-IV d INITIAL EVALUATION OF TRAUMA PATIENTS In the initial evaluation of trauma patients, it is crucial that adequate coordination between prehospital services and emergency medicine departments is established for proper management. The American College of Surgeons has designed the advanced trauma life support (ATLS) guidelines for omanagement of trauma patients. The creation of the ABCDE mnemonic facilitates the identification of life-threatening injuries and creates a systematic approach following logical and sequential treatment priorities. a Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, Hospital UPR Dr Federico Trilla, 65th Infantry Avenue Km 3.8, Carolina, PR 00985, USA; b WakeMed Health & Hospitals, Emergency Services Institute, 3000 New Bern Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27610, USA; c Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina, 170 Manning Drive, CB #7594, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7594, USA; d Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814-4799, USA * Corresponding author. PMB-209 PO Box 6022, Carolina, PR 00984. E-mail address: jfalconc@gmail.com KEYWORDS  Chest tube thoracotomy  Resuscitative thoracotomy  Cricothyrotomy  Venous cutdown  Diagnostic peritoneal lavage  FAST  Compartment syndrome KEY POINTS  Emergency physicians (EP) must be familiar with trauma emergencies.  EP must be dexterous while performing trauma-related procedures, such as chest tube thoracotomy, emergency department thoracotomy, surgical airway, early recognition of compartment syndrome, and venous cutdown.  It is of paramount importance for the practitioner to be dexterous while performing these procedural skills to maintain function while avoiding complications and improving trauma patient outcomes. Emerg Med Clin N Am 31 (2013) 291–334 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.emc.2012.09.004 emed.theclinics.com 0733-8627/13/$ – see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.