A 6-year case series of resuscitative thoracotomies performed by a helicopter emergency medical service in a mixed urban and rural area with a comparison of blunt versus penetrating trauma.

Prehospital RT remains a procedure with low rates of survival but may facilitate a ROSC to allow patients to reach hospital and surgery, particularly when distances to hospitals are greater. A higher-than-expected rate of cardiac tamponade was seen in RTs for blunt trauma, although not caused by a right ventricular wound but instead due to underlying vessel damage.