What is the future of advanced trauma life support training?

Within the past 20 years, advanced trauma life support has developed from a regional to an international educational programme, with 31 participating countries. Notwithstanding the general acknowledgement of the effectiveness of advanced trauma life support procedures for improving early hospital trauma management and the specific knowledge and skills of participants, some criticism has come from the community of British anaesthetists, regarding course contents, the possibility of participating, the significance of skills for trained anaesthetists, team-related concerns and, of course, costs. Now that we have 10 years' experience from European advanced trauma life support courses, we want to take the opportunity to assess the advantages and possible deficiencies of this programme.