Year in review 2012: Critical Care - out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and trauma

In 2012 Critical Care published many articles pertaining to the resuscitation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and trauma. In this review, we summarize several of these articles, including those regarding advances in resuscitation techniques and methods. We examine articles pertaining to prehospital endotracheal intubation, the use of specialized devices for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and policies regarding transport destinations for both cardiac arrest and trauma patients. Articles on the predictors of outcome in both pediatric and adult populations are evaluated, including articles on the effects of obesity on survival from hemorrhage and pediatric outcomes from traumatic cardiac arrest. The effects of the type and volume of resuscitation fluids for both adult and pediatric patients are discussed, as are the factors contributing to hypothermia in trauma patients.