Has the Sun Set on the Golden Hour?
Abstract
The golden hour rule-the belief that trauma patients are more likely to survive if they receive definitive care within sixty minutes of sustaining an injury-has shaped the U.S. militarys medical and operational strategies since 2009 and perhaps longer. The objective of this study was to explore the effectiveness of the golden hour as a strategic guideline for saving lives in combat operations and to compare it to the use of Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) and damage control surgical teams located at the forward edge of combat operations. A detailed review of data on the survivability of wounded servicemembers and civilians proved that there is no significant difference in survivability rates when the golden hour is preferred over TCCC. The 60-minute rule has been promoted based on opinion, anecdote, and incomplete data rather than evidence-based practice. This study opposes the continued use of the golden hour rule as an operational metric and instead proposes that U.S. military combat health support doctrine stresses TCCC proficiency and mobile surgical intervention closest to the most likely point of injury.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1126425
Entities
People
- Mark Euse
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School