The first prehospital trauma course developed, Basic Trauma Life Support was introduced in August of 1982. Nevada’s first course was offered in March of 1990. ITLS began as a local project of the Alabama Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians. ITLS has become internationally accepted as the training course for prehospital trauma care. The original ITLS course was modeled after the Advanced Trauma Life Support course (for physicians) so that the surgeon, emergency physician, trauma nurse, and EMT would think and act along similar lines. The courses differs in many respects because the prehospital situation differs markedly from the hospital.
This course is designed for the advanced EMT, paramedic, and trauma nurse who must initially evaluate and stabilize the trauma patient. Since this is a critical time in the management of these patients, this course is intended to teach the skills necessary for rapid assessments, resuscitation, packaging, and transport. It also stresses those conditions which cannot be stabilized in the field and thus require immediate transport.